Methods, apparatus, and systems for providing an enhanced positive response in underground facility locate and marking operations

ABSTRACT

A positive response notification to provide information regarding locate and/or marking operations for underground facilities may include time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by a locate technician, and/or place-stamp information to provide proof of a presence of the locate technician at or near a work site. An electronic manifest image and/or a virtual white line image similarly may be included in a positive response notification. In one example, such images may be bundled together based on respective descriptor files (or descriptor metadata) that associates the corresponding images with a locate request ticket for the operation. In another example, a positive response notification may include environmental information regarding one or more environmental conditions present at or near the work site during the locate and/or marking operation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims a priority benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), toU.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/256,007, entitled“System For and Method of Providing an Enhanced Positive Response inUnderground Facility Locate Applications,” filed on Oct. 29, 2009.

This application also claims a priority benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §120,as a continuation-in-part (CIP) of U.S. non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 12/703,313, entitled “Methods, Apparatus, andSystems for Exchanging Information Between Excavators and Other EntitiesAssociated with Underground Facility Locate and Marking Operations,”filed on Feb. 10, 2010.

Ser. No. 12/703,313 claims a priority benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §119(a),to Canadian application serial no. 2,690,239, entitled “Methods andApparatus for Excavator Notification of Underground Facility LocateOperation Status,” filed on Feb. 9, 2010.

Ser. No. 12/703,313 also claims a priority benefit, under 35 U.S.C.§119(e), to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/151,419,entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Excavator Notification ofUnderground Facility Locate Operation Status,” filed on Feb. 10, 2009.

Ser. No. 12/703,313 also claims a priority benefit, under 35 U.S.C.§119(e), to U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/151,425, entitled“Methods and Apparatus for Exchanging Information Between Excavators andOther Entities Associated with Underground Facility Locate Operations,”filed on Feb. 10, 2009.

Each of the above-identified applications is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

Field service operations may be any operation in which companiesdispatch technicians and/or other staff to perform certain activities,for example, installations, services and/or repairs. Field serviceoperations may exist in various industries, examples of which include,but are not limited to, network installations, utility installations,security systems, construction, medical equipment, heating, ventilatingand air conditioning (HVAC) and the like.

In the construction industry, for example, the process of locating andmarking underground facilities is an example of a field serviceapplication, often referred to as a “locate and marking operation” (ormore simply referred to as a “locate operation”). In locate operations,a locate technician may use one or more locate devices (e.g., a locatetransmitter and a locate receiver) and a marking device in order toperform the locate operation. A locate receiver is an instrument fordetecting the presence or absence of facilities that are concealed insome manner, such as cables and pipes that are located underground. Alocate receiver is used to detect electromagnetic fields that aregenerated by a detection signal that is emitted from the facility (thedetection signal typically is provided to the facility via a locatetransmitter). A signal, or lack thereof, detected by the locate receiverindicates the presence or absence of the facility.

Once the presence or absence of the facility is detected, a markingmaterial is dispensed on, for example, the surface of the ground at thelocation of the facility. Marking material may be any material,substance, compound, and/or element, used or which may be usedseparately or in combination to mark, signify, and/or indicate. Examplesof marking materials may include, but are not limited to, paint, chalk,dye, and/or iron. Marking devices, such as paint marking wands and/orpaint marking wheels, provide a convenient method of dispensing markingmaterials onto surfaces, such as onto the surface of the ground.

With respect to locate operations, there may be an associated workrequest (i.e., locate request, also referred to as locate request ticketor merely “ticket”) that is originated by, for example, an excavator orother party who wishes to ascertain and/or mark the presence or absenceof one or more underground facilities in a certain geographic region. Alocate request may be any communication or instruction to perform alocate operation at a certain work site, or in some cases multiple worksites, at which one or more dig areas may be designated for plannedexcavation (or more generally, some disturbance of the ground). Today,excavators and other parties are required to notify one-call centers inadvance of their excavation activities and identify through the locaterequest the work site(s)/dig area(s) where individual excavatingactivities/disturbances of the ground are planned. One-call centers maybe any organizations, entities, and/or systems that receive, process,and/or transmit locate requests.

The information on the locate request may include, for example, thephysical address or other location information about the dig area towhich the locate technician is dispatched and the type of service thatis requested, such as detecting and marking one or more types offacilities within a certain area of interest at a certain geographicsite. Additionally, the locate request may specify a “must be completeby” date, a “must be performed on” date, and/or a “do not perform until”date.

In many instances, excavators and other parties who request a locateoperation receive very limited or no notification as to whether or whenthe operation is complete. Once the locate request ticket is in a“closed” status, the one-call center may communicate to the excavatorthat the locate operation is complete. However, this communication maynot be provided in a timely manner. Any delay between performing thelocate operation and the planned excavation represents an inefficiencyin the excavation process and, perhaps, lost profit by the excavationcompanies whose excavators may be unnecessarily idle. Additionally,because there is limited exchange of information between the excavators,other parties requesting locate operations, and locate serviceproviders, there may be confusion as to the scope and status of thelocate operation. In some instances, excavators arrive on site and findthe locate/marking operation not done or done incorrectly; excavatorsoften wait for the “complete by” date to pass, then arrive at the digarea under the assumption that the locate operation has been performed.Consequently, excavators may perform the planned excavation uncertain asto whether the locate operation is complete as requested or has beenperformed satisfactorily prior to beginning the excavation activities.As a result, there is a certain amount of risk of damage to undergroundfacilities.

SUMMARY

Applicants have recognized and appreciated that a need exists for aninformation exchange process not just between excavators and otherparties who may request locate and marking operations (hereafter a“requesting party,” e.g., excavators, property owners, facilitiesowners, regulatory authorities, damage investigators, etc.) and locateservice providers, but also among other key players involved in andrelating to locate and/or marking operations. More specifically, a needexists for better ways of providing information to one or morerequesting parties in a timely manner, for example, to reduceuncertainty and thereby reduce the risk of damage to undergroundfacilities, and in some instances to also improve excavator efficiency.

In view of the foregoing, various inventive embodiments disclosed hereinrelate generally to providing information relating to a locate and/ormarking operation to excavators, other parties requesting locate and/ormarking operations (a requesting party), and/or any other partyassociated with locate and/or marking activities.

In one embodiment, one or more computing devices (e.g., having aprocessor, memory, communications interface, user interface/display,and/or input/output interface, etc.) may be configured so as to providea graphical user interface (GUI) that may be accessed by a requestingparty for a locate and/or marking operation, so as to facilitatesubmission of locate requests as well as selection and/or customizationof “positive response” notifications. For purposes of the presentdisclosure, a “positive response” notification (also referred to hereinsimply as “positive response” and/or “notification”) refers to one ormore communications to one or more requesting parties for a locateand/or marking operation, which communications provide some indicationof the status of the operation and/or information relating to one ormore elements of performance of the operation (or a link/pointer to suchan indication/information, such as a website address containing theindication/information). In some exemplary implementations, suchcomputing devices/GUI may be provided by a one-call-center in a givenjurisdiction, to both facilitate submission of locate requests ingeneral, and to further provide for customization in the manner ofreceiving, and contents of, one or more positive response notificationsthat may be provided to the requesting party/parties. In otherimplementations, such computing devices/GUI may be provided by a thirdparty that may be in communication both with one or more requestingparties and a one-call-center issuing locate request tickets.

In exemplary embodiments, in addition to submitting a locate request, invarious aspects a requesting party may specify, via such a GUI, thatthey would like to receive one or more positive response notificationsrelating to the requested locate and/or marking operation. In additionto merely selecting an option to receive one or more positive responsenotifications, the requesting party may specify a particularcommunication mode in which they wish to receive notification(s) (e.g.,text message; e-mail; voice message; etc.) and/or a particular format inwhich they wish to receive notification(s) (e.g., text based; HTML;images; text and images; tables with particular fields; flat files;etc.). Alternatively or additionally, the requesting party may specifyone or more particular times/events during an operation at which theywish to receive notification(s) (e.g., when a locate ticket isdispatched by a one call center; when a ticket is received by a utilityowner/locate contractor; when a locate technician is dispatched; when alocate technician arrives at a work site/dig area; when a locatetechnician begins an operation; when an operation is complete; if andwhen an operation is approved by a supervisor/quality controlassessment; if and when there is some anomaly regarding the operationwith respect to information in the ticket; etc.). Likewise,alternatively or additionally, the requesting party may specifyparticular content that they wish to receive in one or morenotifications (e.g., upon arrival of technician to work site, sendarrival time and geo-location data/GPS coordinates of technicianlocation; upon completion of the operation send a simple notificationindicating such; upon completion of the operation, send a completeelectronic manifest of all work performed during the operation; uponcompletion of the operation, send one or more images of the worksite/dig area illustrating dispensed markings; send a quality assessmentreport or other quality assessment-related information, etc.).

Once a locate request is submitted, along with selection of positiveresponse notification and preferences for same, the computing device(s)may be configured to thereafter receive further information from avariety of sources (e.g., facility owners; locate contractors; variousequipment, instrumentation, and/or vehicles associated with dispatchedtechnicians to perform locate and/marking operations; etc.) relating toallocating tickets to available technicians and dispatching technicians,as well as various steps/events toward performance of the locate andmarking operation. The computing device(s) acquire and process suchinformation so as to appropriately provide positive responsenotification(s) to requesting parties pursuant to their selectedpreferences. In some embodiments, following receipt of a notification, arequesting party may optionally provide, or in some instances bemandated to provide (e.g., by contractual obligation, applicablestatutes/regulations, etc.) an acknowledgement of receipt (e.g., a“return receipt”) for one or more received notifications.

In yet another embodiment, one or more computing devices may beconfigured so as to provide a graphical user interface (GUI) that notonly facilitates submission of locate requests and positive responsenotification preferences, but also allows for the requesting party toprepare and submit a “virtual white lines” (VWL) image as part of thelocate request. As discussed in greater detail herein, a VWL image maycontain a digital image of the work site (or some other suitable digitaldata representing the geographic location of the work site) along withelectronic annotations delimiting one or more dig areas in whichexcavation or disturbances to the ground are planned. Such electronicannotations also are referred to as “dig area indicators,” which may beany electronically generated markings indicating a point, line, pathand/or area of the planned excavation. To facilitate generation of a VWLimage, the computing device(s) may be configured to execute a VWLapplication which may be implemented, for example, as described in thefollowing references: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/366,853 filedFeb. 6, 2009, entitled “Virtual white lines for delimiting plannedexcavation sites;” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/475,905 filedJun. 1, 2009, entitled “Virtual white lines for delimiting plannedexcavation sites of staged excavation projects;” and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/422,364 filed Apr. 13, 2009, entitled “Virtualwhite lines (VWL) application for indicating a planned excavation orlocate path,” each of which patent applications is hereby incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety.

In some implementations relating to VWL images, the digital image onwhich dig area indicators are drawn may be geotagged (i.e., associatedwith geospatial metadata), and the one or more computing devices may beconfigured to execute the VWL application so as to use the geospatialmetadata associated with the digital image to convert locationinformation regarding the dig area indicators and/or landmarks shown inthe digital image into geographic coordinates such as Global PositioningSystem (GPS) coordinates. These geographic coordinates may be stored ina separate data set that may be attached to a locate request instead of,or in addition to, the VWL image. Accordingly, pursuant to thisembodiment, via a suitably-implemented GUI and a VWL application, aparty requesting a locate and/or marking information may: 1) submit alocate request; 2) generate a VWL image and attach the image and/or adata set relating to a VWL image; and/or 3) select to receive one ormore positive response notifications, and preferences for receivingsame.

In yet other embodiments, according to the methods, apparatus andsystems described herein an enhanced positive response may be generatedto inform one or more parties of locate and/or marking operation status.In one exemplary implementation, an enhanced positive response mayinclude one or both of time-stamp information to provide proof of a timeat which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by a locatetechnician, and place-stamp information to provide proof of a presenceof the locate technician sufficiently proximate to or at a geographiclocation specified on the locate request ticket (and corresponding tothe dig area). In one aspect, the enhanced positive response may includean electronic manifest (EM) image that itself includes such a time-stampand/or place-stamp. As discussed in further detail below, an EM image isan electronic image depicting a work site/dig area and its surroundings(e.g., a digital photograph, an aerial photograph, an electronic map,etc.), on which is overlaid various information relating to workperformed in the field at the work site/dig area by a locate technician.In one aspect, the inclusion of an EM image in an enhanced positiveresponse provides comprehensive feedback regarding performance of thelocate and/or marking operation. Examples of other information that maybe included in such an enhanced positive response (and in some cases aspart of an EM image) include, but are not limited to, a signature and/ora user identification that identifies the locate technician, one or moremember codes for facility owners who may have facilities in or proximateto the dig area, one or more positive response codes representing astatus of the locate and/or marking operation, and various textualinformation. In another aspect, the enhanced positive response mayinclude a virtual white line (VWL) image, in addition to the EM image,that includes one or more dig area indicators to indicate the dig areaon an image; alternatively, the EM image itself may include one or moresuch dig area indicators. As discussed in further detail below, one orboth of an EM image and a VWL image may include geo-referencedinformation (e.g., GPS coordinates) in connection with dig areaindicators, environmental landmarks present in and around the worksite/dig area, and/or the locate and/or marking operation performed bythe technician.

In another embodiment relating to an enhanced positive response, variousenvironmental information may be provided in such a response regardingone or more environmental conditions present at or near the digarea/work site during a locate and/or marking operation. Examples ofenvironmental conditions about which environmental information may beprovided includes, but is not limited to, an ambient temperature, andambient humidity, and an ambient light level. Various environmentalsensors may be employed, alone or together with exemplary locate andmarking devices discussed herein, to acquire such environmentalinformation. Additionally, digital photographs and/or digital audiofiles may be acquired at or near the dig area/work site and included inan enhanced positive response to provide additional information.

In yet another embodiment relating to an enhanced positive response,according to the methods, apparatus and systems described herein anenhanced positive response may be generated in which an electronicmanifest (EM) image and a virtual white line (VWL) image associated withthe locate and/or marking operation are bundled together based onrespective descriptor files (or descriptor metadata) for the EM imageand the VWL image. In one aspect, the descriptor files or descriptormetadata associate the corresponding images with one or more particulartickets in response to which the locate and/or marking operation isperformed so as to link the images and relevant information in thelocate request ticket. In this manner, a comprehensive enhanced positiveresponse may be generated so as to inform one or more parties of acompleted status of the locate and/or marking operation. As noted above,in addition to the EM image and the VWL image, a variety of otherinformation also may be included in an enhanced positive responseresulting from bundling of images based on descriptor files/descriptormetadata.

In sum, one embodiment of the present invention is directed to anapparatus for providing information regarding a locate and/or markingoperation. The locate and/or marking operation comprises detectingand/or marking by a locate technician, in response to at least onelocate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least oneunderground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion ofthe dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavationactivities. The apparatus comprises: a communication interface; a memoryto store processor-executable instructions; and a processing unitcommunicatively coupled to the communication interface and the memory.Upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by theprocessing unit, the processing unit: controls the communicationinterface to receive input indicating that the locate and/or markingoperation is complete; and based on the input indicating that the locateand/or marking operation is complete, further controls the communicationinterface and/or the memory to electronically transmit and/orelectronically store performance information concerning the locateand/or marking operation. The performance information includes at leastone of the following: time-stamp information to provide proof of a timeat which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by the locatetechnician; and place-stamp information to provide proof of a presenceof the locate technician sufficiently proximate to or at a geographiclocation specified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to thedig area.

Another embodiment is directed to a computer-implemented method forproviding information regarding a locate and/or marking operation. Thelocate and/or marking operation comprises detecting and/or marking by alocate technician, in response to at least one locate request ticket, apresence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a digarea, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to beexcavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The methodcomprises: A) receiving input indicating that the locate and/or markingoperation is complete; and B) based on the input indicating that thelocate and/or marking operation is complete, electronically transmittingand/or electronically storing performance information concerning thelocate and/or marking operation. The performance information includes atleast one of the following: time-stamp information to provide proof of atime at which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by thelocate technician; and place-stamp information to provide proof of apresence of the locate technician sufficiently proximate to or at ageographic location specified on the locate request ticket andcorresponding to the dig area.

Another embodiment is directed to at least one non-transitory computerreadable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed on atleast one processing unit, perform a method for providing informationregarding a locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/ormarking by a locate technician, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities,the method comprising: A) receiving input indicating that the locateand/or marking operation is complete; and B) based on the inputindicating that the locate and/or marking operation is complete,electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing performanceinformation concerning the locate and/or marking operation, theperformance information including at least one of the following:time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locateand/or marking operation was completed by the locate technician; andplace-stamp information to provide proof of a presence of the locatetechnician sufficiently proximate to or at a geographic locationspecified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the digarea.

Another embodiment is directed to an apparatus for providing informationregarding a locate and/or marking operation. The locate and/or markingoperation comprises detecting and/or marking by a locate technician, inresponse to at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absenceof at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at leasta portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed duringexcavation activities. The apparatus comprises: a communicationinterface; a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and aprocessing unit communicatively coupled to the communication interfaceand the memory. Upon execution of the processor-executable instructionsby the processing unit, the processing unit: controls the communicationinterface to receive input indicating that the locate and/or markingoperation is complete; and based on the input indicating that the locateand/or marking operation is complete, further controls the communicationinterface and/or the memory to electronically transmit and/orelectronically store environmental information regarding at least oneenvironmental condition present at or near the dig area during thelocate and/or marking operation, so as to inform at least one partyassociated with providing at least one locate request relating to thelocate and/or marking operation of the at least one environmentalcondition.

Another embodiment is directed to an apparatus for providing an enhancedpositive response regarding a locate and/or marking operation. Thelocate and/or marking operation comprises detecting and/or marking by alocate technician, in response to at least one locate request ticket, apresence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a digarea, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to beexcavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The apparatuscomprises: a communication interface; a memory to storeprocessor-executable instructions; and a processing unit communicativelycoupled to the communication interface and the memory. Upon execution ofthe processor-executable instructions by the processing unit, theprocessing unit implements an image assembly component, wherein theimage assembly component: bundles together at least one at least oneelectronic manifest (EM) image and at least one virtual white line (VWL)image associated with the locate and/or marking operation, based onrespective descriptor files for the at least one EM image and the atleast one VWL image, so as to generate the enhanced positive response;and controls the communication interface and/or the memory toelectronically transmit and/or electronically store the enhancedpositive response so as to inform at least one party associated withproviding at least one locate request relating to the locate and/ormarking operation of a completed status of the locate and/or markingoperation.

Another embodiment is directed to a computer-implemented method forgenerating a locate report that describes a completed undergroundfacility locate operation. The method comprises: receiving, by a reportapplication on a computing device, locate information from a locaterequest ticket, the locate information defining a requested locateoperation in a dig area; receiving, by the report application, locatedata acquired during the locate operation; receiving, by the reportapplication, at least one image showing the dig area; generating, by thereport application, a locate report identifying the locate requestticket and including information based on the locate data and the atleast one image; and notifying, by the report application, at least oneuser that the locate report is available.

Another embodiment is directed to a computer-readable storage mediumencoded with computer-readable instructions that, as a result of beingexecuted by a computing device, controls the computing device to performa method for generating a locate report that describes a completedunderground facility locate operation. The method comprises: receivinglocate information from a locate request ticket, the locate informationdefining a requested locate operation in a dig area; receiving locatedata acquired during the locate operation; receiving at least one imageshowing the dig area; generating a locate report identifying the locaterequest ticket and including information based on the locate data andthe at least one image; and notifying at least one user that the locatereport is available.

Another embodiment is directed to a system for generating a locatereport that describes a completed underground facility locate operation.The system comprises: a processing device; and a memory containing areport application, for execution by the processing device, to receivelocate information from a locate request ticket, the locate informationdefining a requested locate operation in a dig area, to receive locatedata acquired during the locate operation, to receive at least one imageshowing the dig area, to generate a locate report identifying the locaterequest ticket and including information based on the locate data andthe at least one image, and to notify at least one user that the locatereport is available.

Another embodiment is directed to an apparatus for providing informationregarding a locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/ormarking, in response to at least one locate request ticket, a presenceor an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area,wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated ordisturbed during excavation activities. The apparatus comprises acommunication interface; a memory to store processor-executableinstructions; and a processing unit communicatively coupled to thecommunication interface and the memory. Upon execution of theprocessor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processingunit controls the communication interface to receive user inputregarding a preferred notification type and/or a preferred notificationcommunication method for at least one notification indicating a statusand/or providing information relating to the performance of the locateand/or marking operation; generates the at least one notification basedat least in part on the preferred notification type and/or the preferrednotification communication method; and further controls thecommunication interface and/or the memory to electronically transmitand/or electronically store the at least one notification so as toinform at least one party associated with providing at least one locaterequest relating to the locate and/or marking operation of the statusand/or performance of the locate and/or marking operation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to at least onecomputer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executedon at least one processing unit, perform a method for providinginformation regarding a locate and/or marking operation comprisingdetecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locate requestticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facilitywithin a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is plannedto be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The methodcomprises A) electronically receiving user input regarding a preferrednotification type and/or a preferred notification communication methodfor at least one notification indicating a status and/or providinginformation relating to the performance of the locate and/or markingoperation; B) generating the at least one notification based at least inpart on the preferred notification type and/or the preferrednotification communication method; and C) electronically transmittingand/or electronically storing the at least one notification so as toinform at least one party associated with providing at least one locaterequest relating to the locate and/or marking operation of the statusand/or performance of the locate and/or marking operation.

A further embodiment of the present invention is directed to a methodfor providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The method comprises A) electronically receiving user input regarding apreferred notification type and/or a preferred notificationcommunication method for at least one notification indicating a statusand/or providing information relating to the performance of the locateand/or marking operation; B) generating the at least one notificationbased at least in part on the preferred notification type and/or thepreferred notification communication method; and C) electronicallytransmitting and/or electronically storing the at least one notificationso as to inform at least one party associated with providing at leastone locate request relating to the locate and/or marking operation ofthe status and/or performance of the locate and/or marking operation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to an apparatusfor providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The apparatus comprises a communication interface; a memory to storeprocessor-executable instructions; and a processing unit communicativelycoupled to the communication interface and the memory. Upon execution ofthe processor-executable instructions by the processing unit, theprocessing unit controls the communication interface to receive an inputindicating that the locate and/or marking operation is in progress orcomplete; generates at least one notification indicating that the locateand/or marking operation is in progress or complete; and furthercontrols the communication interface and/or the memory to electronicallytransmit and/or electronically store the at least one notification so asto inform at least one party associated with providing at least onelocate request relating to the locate and/or marking operation that thelocate and/or marking operation is in progress or complete.

A further embodiment of the present invention is directed to at leastone computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, whenexecuted on at least one processing unit, perform a method for providinginformation regarding a locate and/or marking operation comprisingdetecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locate requestticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facilitywithin a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is plannedto be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The methodcomprises A) electronically receiving an input indicating that thelocate and/or marking operation is in progress or complete; B)generating at least one notification indicating that the locate and/ormarking operation is in progress or complete; and C) electronicallytransmitting and/or electronically storing the at least one notificationso as to inform at least one party associated with providing at leastone locate request relating to the locate and/or marking operation thatthe locate and/or marking operation is in progress or complete.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method forproviding information regarding a locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The method comprises A) electronically receiving an input indicatingthat the locate and/or marking operation is in progress or complete; B)generating at least one notification indicating that the locate and/ormarking operation is in progress or complete; and C) electronicallytransmitting and/or electronically storing the at least one notificationso as to inform at least one party associated with providing at leastone locate request relating to the locate and/or marking operation thatthe locate and/or marking operation is in progress or complete.

A further embodiment of the present invention is directed to anapparatus for providing information regarding a locate and/or markingoperation comprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at leastone locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least oneunderground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion ofthe dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavationactivities. The apparatus comprises a communication interface; a memoryto store processor-executable instructions; and a processing unitcommunicatively coupled to the communication interface and the memory.Upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by theprocessing unit, the processing unit controls the communicationinterface to receive an input indicating that the locate and/or markingoperation is complete; and based on the input indicating that the locateand/or marking operation is complete, further controls the communicationinterface and/or the memory to electronically transmit and/orelectronically store at least one of the following so as to provideinformation concerning the locate and/or marking operation to at leastone party associated with providing at least one locate request relatingto the locate and/or marking operation: (a) a virtual white line imageindicating the dig area; (b) an electronic copy of a completed locaterequest ticket; (c) an electronic manifest image showing details of thelocate and/or marking operation; and (d) an electronic representation ofthe locate and/or marking operation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to at least onecomputer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executedon at least one processing unit, perform a method for providinginformation regarding a locate and/or marking operation comprisingdetecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locate requestticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facilitywithin a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is plannedto be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The methodcomprises A) electronically receiving an input indicating that thelocate and/or marking operation is complete; and B) based on the inputindicating that the locate and/or marking operation is complete,electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing at least oneof the following so as to provide information concerning the locateand/or marking operation to at least one party associated with providingat least one locate request relating to the locate and/or markingoperation: (a) a virtual white line image indicating the dig area; (b)an electronic copy of a completed locate request ticket; (c) anelectronic manifest image showing details of the locate and/or markingoperation; and (d) an electronic representation of the locate and/ormarking operation.

A further embodiment of the present invention is directed to a methodfor providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The method comprises A) electronically receiving an input indicatingthat the locate and/or marking operation is complete; and B) based onthe input indicating that the locate and/or marking operation iscomplete, electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing atleast one of the following so as to provide information concerning thelocate and/or marking operation to at least one party associated withproviding at least one locate request relating to the locate and/ormarking operation: (a) a virtual white line image indicating the digarea; (b) an electronic copy of a completed locate request ticket; (c)an electronic manifest image showing details of the locate and/ormarking operation; and (d) an electronic representation of the locateand/or marking operation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to an apparatusfor providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The apparatus comprises a communication interface; a memory to storeprocessor-executable instructions; and a processing unit communicativelycoupled to the communication interface and the memory. Upon execution ofthe processor-executable instructions by the processing unit, theprocessing unit electronically receives, via the communicationinterface, first user input relating to the dig area; based on the firstuser input, renders a digital virtual white line image including atleast one dig area indicator to provide at least one indication of thedig area with respect to a geographic area; controls the communicationinterface and/or the memory to electronically transmit and/orelectronically store information relating to the digital virtual whiteline image so as to facilitate the locate and/or marking operation;further controls the communication interface to electronically receivesecond user input regarding a preferred notification type and/or apreferred notification communication method for at least onenotification indicating a status and/or providing information relatingto the performance of the locate and/or marking operation; generates theat least one notification based at least in part on the preferrednotification type and/or the preferred notification communicationmethod; and further controls the communication interface and/or thememory to electronically transmit and/or electronically store the atleast one notification so as to inform at least one party associatedwith providing at least one locate request relating to the locate and/ormarking operation of the status and/or performance of the locate and/ormarking operation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to at least onecomputer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executedon at least one processing unit, perform a method for providinginformation regarding a locate and/or marking operation comprisingdetecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locate requestticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facilitywithin a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is plannedto be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The methodcomprises A) electronically receiving first user input relating to thedig area; B) based on the first user input, rendering a digital virtualwhite line image including at least one dig area indicator to provide atleast one indication of the dig area with respect to a geographic area;C) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing informationrelating to the digital virtual white line image so as to facilitate thelocate and/or marking operation; D) electronically receiving second userinput regarding a preferred notification type and/or a preferrednotification communication method for at least one notificationindicating a status and/or providing information relating to theperformance of the locate and/or marking operation; E) generating the atleast one notification based at least in part on the preferrednotification type and/or the preferred notification communicationmethod; and F) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storingthe at least one notification so as to inform at least one partyassociated with providing at least one locate request relating to thelocate and/or marking operation of the status and/or performance of thelocate and/or marking operation.

A further embodiment of the present invention is directed to a methodfor providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The method comprises A) electronically receiving first user inputrelating to the dig area; B) based on the first user input, rendering adigital virtual white line image including at least one dig areaindicator to provide at least one indication of the dig area withrespect to a geographic area; C) electronically transmitting and/orelectronically storing information relating to the digital virtual whiteline image so as to facilitate the locate and/or marking operation; D)electronically receiving second user input regarding a preferrednotification type and/or a preferred notification communication methodfor at least one notification indicating a status and/or providinginformation relating to the performance of the locate and/or markingoperation; E) generating the at least one notification based at least inpart on the preferred notification type and/or the preferrednotification communication method; and F) electronically transmittingand/or electronically storing the at least one notification so as toinform at least one party associated with providing at least one locaterequest relating to the locate and/or marking operation of the statusand/or performance of the locate and/or marking operation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to an apparatusfor providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The apparatus comprises a communication interface; a memory to storeprocessor-executable instructions; and a processing unit communicativelycoupled to the communication interface and the memory. Upon execution ofthe processor-executable instructions by the processing unit, theprocessing unit electronically receives a locate request via thecommunication interface; based on the locate request, generates the atleast one locate request ticket; controls the communication interfaceand/or the memory to electronically transmit and/or electronically storethe locate request ticket so as to initiate the locate and/or markingoperation; further controls the communication interface toelectronically receive user input regarding a preferred notificationtype and/or a preferred notification communication method for at leastone notification indicating a status and/or providing informationrelating to the performance of the locate and/or marking operation;generates the at least one notification based at least in part on thepreferred notification type and/or the preferred notificationcommunication method; and further controls the communication interfaceand/or the memory to electronically transmit and/or electronically storethe at least one notification so as to inform at least one partyassociated with providing at least one locate request relating to thelocate and/or marking operation of the status and/or performance of thelocate and/or marking operation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to at least onecomputer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executedon at least one processing unit, perform a method for providinginformation regarding a locate and/or marking operation comprisingdetecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locate requestticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facilitywithin a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is plannedto be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The methodcomprises A) electronically receiving a locate request; B) based on thelocate request, generating the at least one locate request ticket; C)electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing the locaterequest ticket so as to initiate the locate and/or marking operation; D)electronically receiving user input regarding a preferred notificationtype and/or a preferred notification communication method for at leastone notification indicating a status and/or providing informationrelating to the performance of the locate and/or marking operation; E)generating the at least one notification based at least in part on thepreferred notification type and/or the preferred notificationcommunication method; and F) electronically transmitting and/orelectronically storing the at least one notification so as to inform atleast one party associated with providing at least one locate requestrelating to the locate and/or marking operation of the status and/orperformance of the locate and/or marking operation.

A further embodiment of the present invention is directed to a methodfor providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The method comprises A) electronically receiving a locate request; B)based on the locate request, generating the at least one locate requestticket; C) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing thelocate request ticket so as to initiate the locate and/or markingoperation; D) electronically receiving user input regarding a preferrednotification type and/or a preferred notification communication methodfor at least one notification indicating a status and/or providinginformation relating to the performance of the locate and/or markingoperation; E) generating the at least one notification based at least inpart on the preferred notification type and/or the preferrednotification communication method; and F) electronically transmittingand/or electronically storing the at least one notification so as toinform at least one party associated with providing at least one locaterequest relating to the locate and/or marking operation of the statusand/or performance of the locate and/or marking operation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method forproviding information regarding a locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking, in response to at least one locaterequest ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one undergroundfacility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig areais planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The method comprises A) electronically receiving user input regarding atleast one notification type and/or at least one notificationcommunication method for at least one notification indicating a statusand/or providing information relating to the performance of the locateand/or marking operation; B) generating the at least one notificationbased at least in part on the at least one notification type and/or theat least one notification communication method; and C) electronicallytransmitting and/or electronically storing the at least one notificationso as to inform at least one party associated with providing at leastone locate request relating to the locate and/or marking operation ofthe status and/or performance of the locate and/or marking operation.According to some implementations, the at least one notification typeand/or the at least one notification communication method may bemandated by at least one regulation and/or required by at least onecontract.

For purposes of the present disclosure, the term “dig area” refers to aspecified area of a work site within which there is a plan to disturbthe ground (e.g., excavate, dig holes and/or trenches, bore, etc.), andbeyond which there is no plan to excavate in the immediate surroundings.Thus, the metes and bounds of a dig area are intended to providespecificity as to where some disturbance to the ground is planned at agiven work site. It should be appreciated that a given work site mayinclude multiple dig areas.

The term “facility” refers to one or more lines, cables, fibers,conduits, transmitters, receivers, or other physical objects orstructures capable of or used for carrying, transmitting, receiving,storing, and providing utilities, energy, data, substances, and/orservices, and/or any combination thereof. The term “undergroundfacility” means any facility beneath the surface of the ground. Examplesof facilities include, but are not limited to, oil, gas, water, sewer,power, telephone, data transmission, cable television (TV), and/orinternet services.

The term “locate device” refers to any apparatus and/or device fordetecting and/or inferring the presence or absence of any facility,including without limitation, any underground facility. In variousexamples, a locate device may include both a locate transmitter and alocate receiver (which in some instances may also be referred tocollectively as a “locate instrument set,” or simply “locate set”).

The term “marking device” refers to any apparatus, mechanism, or otherdevice that employs a marking dispenser for causing a marking materialand/or marking object to be dispensed, or any apparatus, mechanism, orother device for electronically indicating (e.g., logging in memory) alocation, such as a location of an underground facility.

The term “locate mark” means any mark, sign, and/or object employed toindicate the presence or absence of any underground facility. Examplesof locate marks may include, but are not limited to, marks made withmarking materials, marking objects, global positioning or otherinformation, and/or any other means. Locate marks may be represented inany form including, without limitation, physical, visible, electronic,and/or any combination thereof.

The terms “locate and marking operation,” “locate operation,” and“locate” generally are used interchangeably and refer to any activity todetect, infer, and/or mark the presence or absence of an undergroundfacility. In some contexts, the term “locate operation” is used to morespecifically refer to detection of one or more underground facilities,and the term “marking operation” is used to more specifically refer tousing a marking material and/or one or more marking objects to mark apresence or an absence of one or more underground facilities. The term“locate technician” refers to an individual performing a locateoperation. A locate and marking operation often is specified inconnection with a dig area, at least a portion of which may be excavatedor otherwise disturbed during excavation activities.

The term “user” refers to an individual utilizing a locate device and/ora marking device and may include, but is not limited to, land surveyors,locate technicians, and support personnel.

The terms “locate request,” “excavation notice,” and “work order” areused herein interchangeably to refer to any communication to request alocate and marking operation. The term “locate request ticket” (orsimply “ticket”) refers to any communication or instruction to perform alocate operation. A ticket might specify, for example, the address ordescription of a dig area to be marked, the day and/or time that the digarea is to be marked, and/or whether the user is to mark the excavationarea for certain gas, water, sewer, power, telephone, cable television,and/or some other underground facility.

The following U.S. published applications are hereby incorporated hereinby reference:

-   U.S. Pat. No. 7,640,105, issued Dec. 29, 2009, filed Mar. 13, 2007,    and entitled “Marking System and Method With Location and/or Time    Tracking;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0094553-A1, published Apr. 15, 2010, filed    Dec. 16, 2009, and entitled “Systems and Methods for Using Location    Data and/or Time Data to Electronically Display Dispensing of    Markers by A Marking System or Marking Tool;”-   U.S. publication no. 2008-0245299-A1, published Oct. 9, 2008, filed    Apr. 4, 2007, and entitled “Marking System and Method;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0013928-A1, published Jan. 15, 2009, filed    Sep. 24, 2008, and entitled “Marking System and Method;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0090858-A1, published Apr. 15, 2010, filed    Dec. 16, 2009, and entitled “Systems and Methods for Using Marking    Information to Electronically Display Dispensing of Markers by a    Marking System or Marking Tool;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0238414-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filed    Mar. 18, 2008, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting    Planned Excavation Sites;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0241045-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filed    Sep. 26, 2008, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting    Planned Excavation Sites;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0238415-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filed    Sep. 26, 2008, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting    Planned Excavation Sites;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0241046-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filed    Jan. 16, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting    Planned Excavation Sites;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0238416-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filed    Jan. 16, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting    Planned Excavation Sites;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0237408-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filed    Jan. 16, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting    Planned Excavation Sites;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0202101-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Feb. 12, 2008, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground    Facility Locate Marks;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0202110-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Sep. 11, 2008, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground    Facility Locate Marks;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0201311-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Jan. 30, 2009, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground    Facility Locate Marks;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0202111-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Jan. 30, 2009, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground    Facility Locate Marks;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0204625-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Feb. 5, 2009, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground    Facility Locate Operation;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0204466-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Sep. 4, 2008, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method of    Performing Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0207019-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filed    Apr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method    of Performing Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0210284-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filed    Apr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method    of Performing Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0210297-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filed    Apr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method    of Performing Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0210298-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filed    Apr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method    of Performing Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0210285-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filed    Apr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method    of Performing Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0324815-A1, published Dec. 31, 2009, filed    Apr. 24, 2009, and entitled “Marking Apparatus and Marking Methods    Using Marking Dispenser with Machine-Readable ID Mechanism;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0006667-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filed    Apr. 24, 2009, and entitled, “Marker Detection Mechanisms for use in    Marking Devices And Methods of Using Same;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0085694 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Sep. 30, 2009, and entitled, “Marking Device Docking Stations and    Methods of Using Same;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0085701 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Sep. 30, 2009, and entitled, “Marking Device Docking Stations Having    Security Features and Methods of Using Same;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0084532 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Sep. 30, 2009, and entitled, “Marking Device Docking Stations Having    Mechanical Docking and Methods of Using Same;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0088032-A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Sep. 29, 2009, and entitled, “Methods, Apparatus and Systems for    Generating Electronic Records of Locate And Marking Operations, and    Combined Locate and Marking Apparatus for Same;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0117654 A1, published May 13, 2010, filed    Dec. 30, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Displaying    an Electronic Rendering of a Locate and/or Marking Operation Using    Display Layers;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0086677 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Aug. 11, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Generating    an Electronic Record of a Marking Operation Including    Service-Related Information and Ticket Information;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0086671 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Nov. 20, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Generating    an Electronic Record of A Marking Operation Including    Service-Related Information and Ticket Information;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0085376 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Oct. 28, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Displaying    an Electronic Rendering of a Marking Operation Based on an    Electronic Record of Marking Information;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0088164-A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Sep. 30, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Analyzing    Locate and Marking Operations with Respect to Facilities Maps;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0088134 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Oct. 1, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Analyzing    Locate and Marking Operations with Respect to Historical    Information;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0088031 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Sep. 28, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Generating    an Electronic Record of Environmental Landmarks Based on Marking    Device Actuations;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0188407 A1, published Jul. 29, 2010, filed    Feb. 5, 2010, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Displaying and    Processing Facilities Map Information and/or Other Image Information    on a Marking Device;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0198663 A1, published Aug. 5, 2010, filed    Feb. 5, 2010, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Overlaying    Electronic Marking Information on Facilities Map Information and/or    Other Image Information Displayed on a Marking Device;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0188215 A1, published Jul. 29, 2010, filed    Feb. 5, 2010, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Generating    Alerts on a Marking Device, Based on Comparing Electronic Marking    Information to Facilities Map Information and/or Other Image    Information;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0188088 A1, published Jul. 29, 2010, filed    Feb. 5, 2010, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Displaying and    Processing Facilities Map Information and/or Other Image Information    on a Locate Device;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0189312 A1, published Jul. 29, 2010, filed    Feb. 5, 2010, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Overlaying    Electronic Locate Information on Facilities Map Information and/or    Other Image Information Displayed on a Locate Device;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0188216 A1, published Jul. 29, 2010, filed    Feb. 5, 2010, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Generating    Alerts on a Locate Device, Based ON Comparing Electronic Locate    Information TO Facilities Map Information and/or Other Image    Information;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0189887 A1, published Jul. 29, 2010, filed    Feb. 11, 2010, and entitled “Marking Apparatus Having Enhanced    Features for Underground Facility Marking Operations, and Associated    Methods and Systems;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0188245 A1, published Jul. 29, 2010, filed    Feb. 11, 2010, and entitled “Locate Apparatus Having Enhanced    Features for Underground Facility Locate Operations, and Associated    Methods and Systems;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0204238-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Feb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Electronically Controlled Marking    Apparatus and Methods;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0208642-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filed    Feb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Marking Apparatus and Methods For    Creating an Electronic Record of Marking Operations;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0210098-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filed    Feb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Marking Apparatus and Methods For    Creating an Electronic Record of Marking Apparatus Operations;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0201178-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Feb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Methods For Evaluating Operation of    Marking Apparatus;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0238417-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filed    Feb. 6, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Indicating    Planned Excavation Sites on Electronic Images;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0205264-A1, published Aug. 12, 2010, filed    Feb. 10, 2010, and entitled “Methods, Apparatus, and Systems for    Exchanging Information Between Excavators and Other Entities    Associated with Underground Facility Locate and Marking Operations;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0205031-A1, published Aug. 12, 2010, filed    Feb. 10, 2010, and entitled “Methods, Apparatus, and Systems for    Exchanging Information Between Excavators and Other Entities    Associated with Underground Facility Locate and Marking Operations;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0201706-A1, published Aug. 12, 2010, filed    Jun. 1, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines (VWL) for Delimiting    Planned Excavation Sites of Staged Excavation Projects;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0205555-A1, published Aug. 12, 2010, filed    Jun. 1, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines (VWL) for Delimiting    Planned Excavation Sites of Staged Excavation Projects;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0205195-A1, published Aug. 12, 2010, filed    Jun. 1, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Associating a    Virtual White Line (VWL) Image with Corresponding Ticket Information    for an Excavation Project;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0205536-A1, published Aug. 12, 2010, filed    Jun. 1, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Controlling    Access to a Virtual White Line (VWL) Image for an Excavation    Project;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0228588-A1, published Sep. 9, 2010, filed    Feb. 11, 2010, and entitled “Management System, and Associated    Methods and Apparatus, for Providing Improved Visibility, Quality    Control and Audit Capability for Underground Facility Locate and/or    Marking Operations;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0201690-A1, published Aug. 12, 2010, filed    Apr. 13, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines (VWL) Application    for Indicating a Planned Excavation or Locate Path;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0205554-A1, published Aug. 12, 2010, filed    Apr. 13, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines (VWL) Application    for Indicating an Area of Planned Excavation;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0202112-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Feb. 11, 2009, and entitled “Searchable Electronic Records of    Underground Facility Locate Marking Operations;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0204614-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filed    Feb. 11, 2009, and entitled “Searchable Electronic Records of    Underground Facility Locate Marking Operations;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0205032-A1, published Aug. 12, 2010, filed    Feb. 11, 2010, and entitled “Marking Apparatus Equipped with Ticket    Processing Software for Facilitating Marking Operations, and    Associated Methods;”-   U.S. publication no. 2009-0327024-A1, published Dec. 31, 2009, filed    Jun. 26, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Quality    Assessment of a Field Service Operation;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0010862-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filed    Aug. 7, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Quality    Assessment of a Field Service Operation Based on Geographic    Information;”-   U.S. publication No. 2010-0010863-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filed    Aug. 7, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Quality    Assessment of a Field Service Operation Based on Multiple Scoring    Categories;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0010882-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filed    Aug. 7, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Quality    Assessment of a Field Service Operation Based on Dynamic Assessment    Parameters;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0010883-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filed    Aug. 7, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Quality    Assessment of a Field Service Operation Based on Multiple Quality    Assessment Criteria;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0088135 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Oct. 1, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Analyzing    Locate and Marking Operations with Respect to Environmental    Landmarks;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0085185 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Sep. 30, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for Generating    Electronic Records of Locate Operations;”-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0090700-A1, published Apr. 15, 2010, filed    Oct. 30, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Displaying an    Electronic Rendering of a Locate Operation Based on an Electronic    Record of Locate Information;” and-   U.S. publication no. 2010-0085054 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, filed    Sep. 30, 2009, and entitled, “Systems and Methods for Generating    Electronic Records of Locate And Marking Operations.”

It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing conceptsand additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided suchconcepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being partof the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, allcombinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of thisdisclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subjectmatter disclosed herein. It should also be appreciated that terminologyexplicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosureincorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistentwith the particular concepts disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generallybeing placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an information exchange process flowthat includes a link between excavators and locate personnel, accordingto one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of an example of aninformed excavator system for exchanging information between excavatorsand other entities associated with locate operations, according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary excavator device according to one aspectof the present invention, which supports a “virtual white line” (VWL)application to display an image of a geographic area including a digarea and facilitate adding virtual white lines to the displayed image toindicate the dig area;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary locate personnel device according to oneaspect of the present invention, which supports an “electronic manifest”(EM) application to display an image of a geographic area including adig area and facilitate adding one or more indicators to the displayedimage representing one or more physical locate marks applied to the digarea to indicate a presence or an absence of one or more undergroundfacilities;

FIG. 5 illustrates various elements of an informed excavator applicationfor providing information regarding the status of locate operations,according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6A illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method of providinginformation regarding the status of locate operations, according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6B illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface that may beused in connection with providing inputs to the informed excavatorapplication, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method of generatinglocate request tickets and performing locate operations in response tosuch tickets, which method employs aspects of the method illustrated inFIG. 6A for providing information regarding the status of locateoperations, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method of providinginformation regarding the status of locate operations and generating avirtual white lines image as part of a locate request submission,according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a positive response application forprocessing enhanced positive responses for underground facility locateand/or marking operations, according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary electronic manifest (EM) imageincluding a time-stamp, a place-stamp, and a technician signature/ID,that may be used in an enhanced positive response according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11A illustrates an example of an enhanced positive response,according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11B illustrates another example of an enhanced positive response,according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary computing device (e.g., a computer)that is configured to execute various applications, according toembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Following below are more detailed descriptions of various conceptsrelated to, and embodiments of, inventive systems, methods and apparatusfor providing an information exchange process between excavators andother entities associated with underground facility locate operationsand, in particular, providing enhanced positive response notifications(also referred to herein simply as an “enhanced positive response” or“locate report”) in connection with such operations. In various aspects,these methods, apparatus, and systems provide communicationinfrastructure and mechanisms by which information exchange regardinglocate and/or marking operations, such as status information, may bereported in real-time and/or other times to excavators or other partieswho originate locate requests.

For purposes of illustrating exemplary embodiments, in the more detaileddiscussion below an exemplary requesting party is taken to be anexcavator, and the systems, methods and apparatus discussed herein aresometimes referred to as “informed excavator” systems, methods andapparatus or “positive response” systems, methods and apparatus.However, it should be appreciated that any reference to an “excavator”or “informed excavator” is merely exemplary, as the concepts discussedherein are contemplated as applying more generally to various partieswho may request a locate and/or marking operation, examples of whichparties may include, but are not limited to, property owners (e.g., homeowners, business owners), facility owners, regulatory authorities,damage investigators, and the like. More generally, it should beappreciated that various concepts introduced above and discussed ingreater detail below may be implemented in any of numerous ways, as thedisclosed concepts are not limited to any particular manner ofimplementation. Examples of specific implementations and applicationsare provided primarily for illustrative purposes.

While currently a simple conventional communication process may existbetween requesting parties and one-call centers and, likewise, acommunication process may exist between one-call centers and locateparties, an aspect of the informed excavator systems, methods andapparatus disclosed herein is that they provide an information exchangeprocess among requesting parties, one-call centers and locate parties(independent locate service providers, and/or facility owners whoperform their own locate and/or marking operations) which is otherwisenot present in current processes with respect to locate operations.Another aspect of the informed excavator system and associated methodsof the present disclosure is that it provides improved informationexchange between excavators and locate service providers.

Yet another aspect of the informed excavator system and associatedmethods of the present disclosure is that it provides better ways ofcommunicating the status of locate operations to excavators in a timelymanner, which may significantly reduce, and preferably entirelyeliminate, the uncertainty as to whether the locate operation iscomplete.

Still another aspect of the informed excavator system and associatedmethods of the present disclosure is that it provides information to theexcavator about the locate operation prior to beginning the excavationactivities. This substantially improves the confidence of the excavatorthat the locate operation has been performed satisfactorily, which maysignificantly reduce, and preferably entirely eliminate, the risk ofdamage to underground facilities.

Still another aspect of the informed excavator system and associatedmethods of the present disclosure is that it provides improved projectplanning, decision making, management, and/or tracking with respect tolocate operations.

Referring to FIG. 1, an example of information exchange process flow 100that includes a link between excavators and locate personnel ispresented. For example, information exchange process flow 100 mayinclude a communications loop among one or more excavation companies 110and their associated excavators 114, one or more one-call centers 120,and one or more locate parties 130 and their associated locate personnel134.

Excavation companies, such as excavation companies 110, may be anycompanies that provide excavation services for any purpose, such as, butnot limited to, excavation services related to the construction industryand excavation services related to the installation and/or maintenanceof underground facilities. Excavators 114 may be any personnelassociated with excavation companies 110, such as, but not limited to,individuals who are requesting and/or performing the excavationoperations. In particular, excavators 114 generate locate requests(i.e., tickets), which may be processed via a certain one-call center120. A ticket may be any communication or instruction to perform alocate operation at a certain dig area, which is any specifiedgeographic area within which excavation may occur.

One-call centers, such as one-call centers 120, may be anyorganizations, entities, and/or systems that receive, process, and/ortransmit locate requests. The locate request (or ticket) may be anycommunication or instruction to perform a locate operation. One-callcenters are generally owned, controlled, or funded by undergroundfacility owners, such as telephone companies, cable television multiplesystem operators, electric utilities, gas utilities, or others. One-callcenter operations may be managed by a non-profit entity or outsourced toa for-profit firm. Excavators, such as excavators 114, are required tonotify one-call centers in advance of their excavation activities andidentify through the locate request the dig area where individualexcavating activities will be performed. Locate requests may includeinformation supplied by the excavator to the one-call center regardingthe specific geographic location of the dig area, date, time, purpose ofexcavation, and so on. The locate request, in turn, requires activityfrom an underground facility owner to perform a locate operation in thespecified dig area.

Locate parties/entities, such as locate parties 130, may be any partiesthat provide locate services. Multiple locate personnel 134 may beassociated with each locate party 130. Locate personnel 134 may be, forexample, locate technicians and/or quality control technicians that, forexample, perform locate operations.

While a communication process may exist between excavation companies andone-call centers and also may exist between one-call centers and locateparties in current processes, an aspect of the information exchangeprocess flow 100 of the present disclosure is that it further includes acommunications link between excavation companies and locate parties,which is otherwise not present in current processes for generating andprocessing locate requests. In this way, the communications loop among,for example, excavation companies 110, one-call centers 120, and locateparties 130 is closed. As a result, a free flow of information withrespect to information about locate operations may occur. More detailsof an example of a system for facilitating a closed loop communicationsflow, such as information exchange process flow 100, with respect tolocate operations are described with reference to FIGS. 2 through 7.

Referring to FIG. 2, a functional block diagram of an example of aninformed excavator system 200 for exchanging information betweenexcavators and other entities associated with locate operations ispresented. In particular, informed excavator system 200 is suitable forfacilitating a flow of information among excavation companies, one-callcenters, and locate parties in order to provide to the originatingexcavators notification of the status of locate operations and any otheruseful information about locate operations.

Informed excavator system 200 may include, but is not limited to, theone or more one-call centers 120 of FIG. 1, an image server 210 that maybe used by the one or more excavators 114, one or more onsite computers220 that may be used by locate personnel 134 and/or excavators 114,excavator devices 212, locate personnel devices 218, and a centralserver 222. A network 224 provides the communication link between anyand/or among all entities of informed excavator system 200. For example,network 224 provides the communication network by which information maybe exchanged among one-call centers 120, image server 210, centralserver 222, onsite computers 220, excavator devices 212 and locatepersonnel devices 218. Network 224 may be, for example, any local areanetwork (LAN) and/or wide area network (WAN) for connecting to theInternet.

In order to connect to network 224, each entity of informed excavatorsystem 200 includes a communication interface (not shown). For example,the respective communication interfaces of one-call centers 120, imageserver 210, central server 222, and onsite computers 220, as well asexcavator and locate personnel devices, may be any wired and/or wirelesscommunication interface by which information may be exchanged betweenany entities of informed excavator system 200. Examples of wiredcommunication interfaces may include, but are not limited to, USB ports,RS232 connectors, RJ45 connectors, Ethernet, and any combinationsthereof. Examples of wireless communication interfaces may include, butare not limited to, an Intranet connection, Internet, Bluetooth®technology, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, IEEE 802.11 technology, radio frequency (RF),Infrared Data Association (IrDA) compatible protocols, Local AreaNetworks (LAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), Shared Wireless AccessProtocol (SWAP), any combinations thereof, and other types of wirelessnetworking protocols.

In exemplary implementations, each entity of the informed excavatorsystem 200 shown in FIG. 2 also generally includes a memory (e.g., oneor more computer-readable media) to store processor-executableinstructions as well as other data. Each entity also includes one ormore processing units coupled to the communication interface and thememory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructionsby the processing unit, the processing unit performs a variety offunctions as set forth in greater detail below. Generally speaking, manyof the various functionalities described herein and attributed tovarious entities of the informed excavator system 200 shown in FIG. 2may be encoded as processor-executable instructions stored in/on one ormore computer readable media.

Informed excavator system 200 is not limited to the types and numbers ofentities that are shown in FIG. 2. Any types and numbers of entitiesthat may be useful in underground facilities locate applications may beincluded in informed excavator system 200.

Image server 210 may be any application server, such as a webapplication server and/or web portal, by which excavators 114, one-callcenter 120, and locate parties and their personnel may access certaintools with respect to submitting and/or processing locate requests (ortickets) and/or for processing notifications about locate operations,including access to various images relating to the locate operations andexcavation activities. Application server 210 may be accessed byexcavators 114 via any networked computing device (not shown).

Central server 222 may be a centralized computer, such as a centralserver of, for example, a certain locate party 130 of FIG. 1, which isthe underground facility locate service provider. Central server 222 maybe utilized for managing the overall operations of informed excavatorsystem 200. When authorized, applications and/or information that resideon central server 222 may be accessible by any other entities ofinformed excavator system 200 via network 224. For example, residing oncentral server 222 may be a workforce management application 254, aticket approval application 256, and a notification application(“informed excavator application) 258.

Each onsite computer 220 may be any computer, such as, but not limitedto, a computer that is present in the vehicle that is being used by thefield service personnel. Each onsite computer 220 may be, for example,any computing device, such as portable computer, a personal computer, atablet device, a PDA, a cellular radiotelephone, a mobile computingdevice, a touch-screen device, a touchpad device, or generally anydevice including, or connected to, a processor and a user interface.Preferably, onsite computer 220 is a portable computing device, such aslaptop computer or tablet device. Residing on onsite computer 220 may becertain tools, such as, but not limited to, a VWL viewer, an electronicmanifest (EM) application, and a workforce management client.

VWL applications 232 and 234, which may be accessed via the image server210 and downloaded for use on an onsite computer 220, an excavatordevice 212 and/or a one-call center 120, is a tool for electronicallydelimiting the particular geographic location of the proposed excavationin order to provide a substantially permanent and reproducible record ofthe planned excavation. For example, VWL application 232 (and similarlyVWL application 234) may be a drawing application, which, in excavationapplications, may be used by the excavator 114 as a dig area markingtool. More specifically, VWL application 232 may be used by theexcavator 114 to add markings to an input image to graphically delimit adig area. For example, VWL application 232 may be used to superimposeover or otherwise display “virtual white lines” on an input image (e.g.,an aerial image) that may be received from, for example, the imageserver 210. As used herein, the virtual white lines may include lines,drawing shapes, shades, points, symbols, coordinates, data sets, orother indicators to delimit on an input image the dig area in whichexcavation is to occur. FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary excavator device212 according to one aspect of the present invention, which supports VWLapplication 232 to display an image of a geographic area including a digarea and facilitate adding virtual white lines 260 to the displayedimage to provide a marked-up VWL image 238 on which is indicated the digarea.

Additionally, VWL application 232 may be the application by whichexcavators 114 may submit locate requests 236 to one-call centers 120,wherein the locate requests 236 may include the VWL image(s) 238 thatare generated by excavators 114. Alternatively, excavators 114 maysubmit locate requests without virtual white line marked-up images toone-call centers 120, and in turn the one-call centers 120 may use theinformation in the locate request submitted by the excavator to in turngenerate a virtual white line marked-up image 238, via VWL application234, that is then forwarded to one or more locate parties 130 as locaterequest 236.

A project component of VWL applications 232 or 234 allows excavators 114or a one-call center 120 to generate a series of VWL images that may beassociated with multiple phases of a “project ticket,” meaning a locaterequest for an ongoing project that requires multiple locate operationsover, for example, a span of several days. An example of such a projectmay be excavation to lay fiber optics along a 20 mile stretch of ahighway. With respect to locate operations, the project ticket may begenerated that specifies certain subsections to be located and atimetable. Further to the example, the project component of the VWLapplication may allow the excavator 114 or the one-call center 120 togenerate a first VWL image for mile 1 of 20, a second VWL image for mile2 of 20, a third VWL image for mile 3 of 20, a fourth VWL image for mile4 of 20, and so on. Each image of the series may be named and/or labeledin a manner that allows the VWL application to read in the series of VWLimages in the correct order and geographic position and then overlay allof the VWL images to show the full scope of the locate operation withrespect to the project ticket.

Hereafter, the term “VWL image” means a single VWL image of a locaterequest (or ticket) and/or a series of VWL images of a project ticket.

In one embodiment of the informed excavator system 200 shown in FIG. 2,an informed excavator application 258, which may reside on the centralserver 222, provides for the communication of information relating tothe status of one or more locate operations. As discussed in greaterdetail below, such status information may be communicated in real timeduring various phases of a given locate operation, or at some pointafter the completion of a locate operation, to excavators, one-callcenters, or other parties associated with the locate operation. In someexemplary implementations, an excavator may provide profile informationregarding preferences in receiving notifications of the statusinformation, in response to which one or more notifications may beautomatically provided to the excavator.

For example, an excavator 114 may login to the informed excavatorapplication 258 and specify (e.g., via a menu) the types ofnotifications that he/she wishes to receive and the methods by whichnotifications may be automatically received. For each excavator 114, theselected types and methods of notification may be saved in a respective“excavator profile” of informed excavator application 258. In this case,the specified preferences may be applied, by default, to all locaterequests originated by that excavator. However, notification preferencesmay also be established in connection with individual locate operationsor the like. For example, the excavator may be prompted to separatelyspecify his or her preferences for notifications in connection with eachrequested locate operation. An excavator may override globallyestablished notification preferences by specifying notificationpreferences for a particular locate operation without affecting thepreferences set forth in the excavator profile.

Examples of types of notifications may include, but are not limited to,the following:

“Locate technician dispatched to dig area,” which means that the locatetechnician is in route to the dig area. For example, the notificationthat is transmitted to the originating excavator 114 may be—“For TicketNo. 2645134, the locate technician Jack Stewart, telephone no.622-222-2222, has been dispatched to dig area on Friday, Dec. 5, 2008 at9:30 AM.” Such a notification may include a map or a link to a map thatshows the locate technician's current location. The locate technician'slocation may be based on location information derived from a globalpositioning system (GPS) device or other positioning system deviceassociated with the locate technician. For example, the locatetechnician's location may be based on coordinates received from aGPS-enabled vehicle, computer, or personal digital assistant (PDA) inproximity to the locate technician while traveling between dig areasand/or during locate operations. The workforce management application254 described in connection with FIG. 2 may receive and manage suchlocation information.

“Locate technician on site at dig area,” which means that locatetechnician has arrived at the dig area. For example, the notificationthat is transmitted to the originating excavator 114 may be—“For TicketNo. 2645134, the locate technician is on site at dig area on Friday,Dec. 5, 2008 at 10:05 AM.”

“Ticket marked,” which means that locate technician has completed thelocate operation. However, a ticket approval process may be pending. Forexample, the notification that is transmitted to the originatingexcavator 114 may be—“Ticket No. 2645134 is marked on Friday, Dec. 5,2008 at 11:46 AM and is pending approval.”

“Ticket approved,” which means that the locate operation associated withthe ticket has been certified by supervisors and/or quality controlpersonnel of locate parties 130 to meet a certain quality standard. Thecertification process may be via ticket approval application 224 ofcentral server 212. For example, the notification that is transmitted tothe originating excavator 114 may be—“Ticket No. 2645134 is approved onFriday, Dec. 5, 2008 at 12:35 PM.” Since approval of the ticket may bethe last step of the locate process, such a notification may alsoinclude a positive indication that the locate operation is completeand/or that the excavator may proceed with excavation activities.

“Locate details,” which means that detailed information about the locateoperation may be transmitted to excavators 114, such as informationgenerated by locate personnel 134 using EM application 232 of onsitecomputers 214.

“Locate operation delayed,” which means that the locate operation hasbeen delayed for some reason (e.g., rain).

“Ticket expired” or “Ticket about to expire,” which means that thespecified time frame for the locate operation has or is about to expirewithout the locate operation having been completed.

“Locate Request Submitted,” which means that the locate request has beensubmitted to the one-call center. This notification may include, forexample, the name of the person who originated the locate request and/orthe locate party or parties who will be responsible for performing thelocate operation.

The types of notifications listed above are merely exemplary, and itshould be appreciated that many additional types of notifications arepossible. For example, notifications may have a high degree ofspecificity. Rather than simply electing to be notified when a locatetechnician is on-site, a user may elect to be notified when the locatetechnician has turned on his marking device, begun marking, changedpaint colors, etc. A notification can also relate to a planned event sothat, for example, an excavator may be informed when the locatetechnician plans to be on-site so that the excavator can meet with thelocate technician at the specified time.

Examples of methods by which notifications may be automatically receivedby excavators 114 may include, but are not limited to, email, SMS textmessage, instant message, phone call (such as from an interactive voiceresponse (IVR) system), pager message, and rich site summary (RSS) feed,which is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updatedworks, such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video, in astandardized format. The notifications may optionally include image(s)or video. For example, an image showing details of the completed locateand/or marking activities may be transmitted to an excavator 114 as anattachment to an email or text message.

Alternatively, an authorized excavator 114 may query the status ofcertain locate requests by, for example, accessing a secure web site.For example, text-based notifications (e.g., emails or SMS textmessages) received by excavators 114 may include a link or reference toa web site, such as one maintained by a locate service provider, thatincludes information on the status of a locate request and/or locateoperation. By accessing the web site, such as by clicking on thehyperlink in an email, the excavator 114 may view periodically updated,recent, and/or real-time information on the status of a locate requestand/or locate operation.

Such a web site may display an image showing details of a locateoperation and/or a corresponding electronic representation of the locateoperation. Further, such a web site may display aggregate information,such that an excavator 114 can view information supplied by multiplelocate technicians or parties and/or information relating to a multiplesubmitted locate requests or multiple dig areas. According to oneillustrative example, an excavator 114 may receive an email with anotification that a locate party has completed its locate activities,along with a link to a web site that includes an image and/or electronicrepresentation showing details of the locate activities completed bythat locate party as well as the locate activities previously completedby other locate parties.

In some instances, it may be desirable for a single entity or a limitednumber of entities to retain control over the status or otherinformation relating to a locate operation. For example, it may bedesirable for the entity that provides access to an electronic manifest(EM) creation application (e.g., the EM application 246) and has initialcontrol of one or more created EM images (e.g., EM images 248) to retaincontrol of such images. One potential benefit of retaining control ofthe EM image(s) once created is avoiding unauthorized edits to orunauthorized use of the image(s).

According to one example, a “controlling” entity that provides access toan EM creation application (e.g., the EM application 246) retainscontrol of one or more created images, but allows other entities toaccess the images in some instances in a limited manner. For example,the controlling entity may provide a link (e.g., a hyperlink) to one ormore EM images (e.g., via an e-mail) or otherwise provide an interfaceallowing the EM image(s) to be accessed (e.g., via a customized orproprietary image viewing application). Such a link may have apre-established expiration date, such that clicking on the link will notaccess the EM image(s)/web page after the specified expiration date. Tomaintain the integrity of the EM image(s), the application providingaccess to the EM image(s) may prohibit copying of, saving of, or writingto the images. For example, the EM image may be viewable only using acorresponding image file viewer that allows limited access to the EMimage. In particular, copy, save and/or write access to the EM image maybe prohibited. In these and other respects discussed below, one or moreEM image files may be stored and/or transmitted as “limited accessfiles.”

The EM image may, for example, be transmitted to a party associated withthe at least one underground facility with the corresponding image fileviewer so that the party may view the EM image. For example, anexecutable file comprising the EM image and image file viewer may betransmitted (e.g., a customized image viewer may be transmitted to oneor more onsite computers). Alternatively, the image file viewer may bedownloaded/installed separately, e.g., from a web site of thecontrolling entity, or the EM image may be viewed using an image fileviewer stored and executed on a server of the controlling entity.

In one implementation, the controlling entity may allow access to the EMimage(s) only when a certain condition or conditions are met. Forexample, the controlling entity may require a password protected log-inprocedure for access to the EM image(s). In particular, the image fileviewer may require a password to permit access to the EM image. Asanother example, the controlling entity may require acceptance ofcertain terms and/or conditions to permit access to the EM image.According to one implementation, the image file viewer may be programmedto require an indication of acceptance of terms and/or conditions priorto permitting access to the EM image. According to yet another example,the controlling entity may charge a fee for permitting a third party toaccess one or more EM images, such as a per-transaction fee or asubscription fee.

To prevent access to the EM image unless or until a condition orconditions are met, the EM image may be encrypted and require decryptionto be readable. A corresponding image file viewer may be required todecrypt the EM image. The EM image and/or the corresponding image fileviewer may also or alternatively be proprietary, and may have a formatspecific to the controlling entity. The image file viewer may optionallybe programmed to determine whether an updated version of the image fileviewer is available. For example, the image file viewer may interrogateinformation associated with the EM image to determine a correspondingversion of the image file viewer. If an updated version is found, theviewer may prompt the user to upgrade the application or otherwisefacilitate an update.

The EM image may be transmitted in a variety of different formats. Forexample, the EM image may be transmitted as an image including locatemark indicators thereon. Alternatively, the EM image may be transmittedas a base image with associated metadata and/or a separate file (e.g.,an XML file) including information that allows the locate markindicators to be rendered on or in connection with the base image. Suchinformation may comprise geographic coordinates specifying the locatemark indicators to be displayed on the base image. The informationincluded in the metadata and/or separate file may also specify accesspermissions for the locate mark indicators. For example, in the casewhere the information that allows locate mark indicators to be renderedrelates to a plurality of dig sites, locate mark information for one ormore dig sites may have restricted access such that the correspondinglocate mark indicators are not rendered unless certain access conditionsare met.

While the status information described above as being stored and/ortransmitted as a “limited access file” corresponds to one or more EMimages, the same principles may be applied to other types of image-basedor non-image files to limit the access to the status information.

In some implementations, an acknowledgement is required from therecipient of a positive response notification that he or she hasreceived and/or reviewed the information included in the notification.Thus, a return receipt may be solicited from the recipient of annotification in the form of an automatic confirmation that thenotification was opened or received, for example by an automatic returnemail or text message. A notification may also be automaticallygenerated when the notification recipient logs in to a web site orotherwise accesses information via a web site. Alternatively, arecipient-generated confirmation may be solicited. For example, therecipient may be requested to reply to a text or email with a certainword or code when a notification is received, accessed and/or reviewed.

Turning again to FIG. 2, one-call centers 120 may process locaterequests that may be submitted by excavators 114. More specifically, acertain one-call center 120 may pass locate requests to central server222 of a certain locate party 130. The locate requests may includecorresponding VWL images that are generated by excavators 114, whooriginate the locate requests. Subsequently, workforce managementapplication 254 of central server 222 may be used to process the locaterequests that are received from one-call centers 120 and dispatch thelocate requests to locate personnel 134 that are in the field. Locatepersonnel 134 are able to receive locate requests (along with any VWLimages) that are dispatched by workforce management application 222 viatheir respective onsite computers 220 or locate personnel devices 218.

Once received at a certain onsite computer or device, a certain locatepersonnel 134 may view the locate request and may view the correspondingVWL image via the VWL viewer 230. VWL viewer 230 may be any graphicalviewer application that is capable of reading and displaying the VWLimages. Alternatively, VWL images may be read into and viewed by an“electronic manifest” (EM) application 246. EM application 246 may be adrawing application, which, in underground facility locate applications,may be used by locate personnel 134 as a marking tool for documentingthe locate operation. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary locate personneldevice 218 according to one aspect of the present invention, whichsupports an EM application 246 to display an image of a geographic areaincluding a dig area and facilitate adding one or more indicators to thedisplayed image representing one or more physical locate marks appliedto the dig area to indicate a presence or an absence of one or moreunderground facilities, thereby forming EM image 248.

More specifically, EM application 246 may be used by locate personnel134 to add markings (one or more “locate mark indicators”) to an inputimage of a geographic area including the dig area, so as to graphicallyindicate (digitally represent in an electronic image) the work performedin the locate operation. The input image may be received from, forexample, the image server 210 that may be associated with a party thatprovides images for a fee. In some implementations, the input image maybe an aerial image 230. EM application 246 may superimpose over orotherwise display these markings on the displayed input image and savethem as, for example, an EM image 248. The markings may include lines,drawing shapes, shades, points, symbols, coordinates, data sets, orother indicators to graphically depict the work performing in the locateoperation. The EM image may then be associated with a marked ticket thatmay be transmitted to central server 222.

The resulting EM image generated by EM application 246 may show, forexample, the original virtual white lines 260 from the original VWLimage; a mark-up of one or more types of facilities, the presence orabsence of which have been determined during the locate operation, and amark-up of one or more environmental landmarks. An environmentallandmark may be any location specified by any means that is used or canbe used as a reference point for measurement or orientation. Examples ofenvironmental landmarks may include, but are not limited to, a tree, acurb, a driveway, a utility pole, a fire hydrant, a storm drain, apedestal, a water meter box, a manhole lid, a building structure, alight post, or a set of global positioning system coordinates.

Alternatively, EM application 246 may read in information about thelocate operation from a data-enabled electronic marking device 216 thatis used during the locate operation. The data-enabled electronic markingdevice may, for example, be based on the marking devices that aredescribed with reference to U.S. Patent Application publication no.2008-0245299-A1, filed Apr. 4, 2007, entitled “Marking system andmethod,” and U.S. Patent Application publication no. 2008-0228294-A1,filed Mar. 13, 2007, entitled “Marking system and method with locationand/or time tracking,” which publications are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety.

By way of example, the marking device 216 may include certain softwarecomponents and/or applications, such as, but not limited to, a devicehealth component, a marking data algorithm 244, a map viewerapplication, ticket processing software, a speech synthesis component,and an operating mode controller that allows the marking device tooperate in multiple modes, such as, but not limited to, marking mode,landmark identification mode, solo mode, and group mode. Additionally,the marking device 216 may include certain input devices 240, such as,but not limited to, a marking material detection mechanism, a locationtracking system, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a lightsensor, a compass, an inclinometer, an accelerometer, a digital camera,and an audio recorder.

Subsequently, the information from the data-enabled electronic markingdevice 216 may then be rendered into the graphical depiction of the workperformed in the locate operation. More specifically, the informationfrom the data-enabled electronic marking device may be processed by EMapplication 246 and a graphical depiction of the locate operation may besuperimposed over or otherwise displayed on the input image and saved asthe EM image 248. Again, the EM image 248 may then be associated with amarked or completed ticket 250 that may be transmitted to central server222. When excavators 114 select “Locate information” as one type ofnotification in their excavator profiles, the source of this informationmay be, for example, the marked up EM images 248.

In some locate operations, no underground facilities are determined tobe present in a designated dig area. Such locate operations aresometimes referred to as “clears.” In some implementations of theinventive concepts discussed herein, the EM application 246 maynonetheless be employed to provide an electronic record of a “clear;”more specifically, although no locate mark indicators may be added to aninput image (because there are no physical locate marks to digitallyrepresent), the EM application may be employed to provide otherinformation associated with the “clear” locate operation (e.g., atimestamp of when the locate operation was performed, an identifier fora technician or locate party performing the locate operation, a textaddress or other geographical identifier for the dig area, etc.) andthis other information may be associated with the input image (e.g., asa separate data set linked to the input image, as metadata, a combinedfile of image and non-image data, etc.) to create a searchableelectronic record that may be consulted (e.g., forward to an excavatoror other party as part of a notification) to verify that the locateoperation was indeed completed, even though no underground facilitieswere found.

Workforce management client of onsite computers 220 and/or locatepersonnel devices 218 may be a counterpart to workforce managementapplication 254 of central server 222. That is, workforce managementclient may be used to transmit the current status of locate operationsfrom onsite computers/locate personnel devices to workforce managementapplication 254. During locate operations, workforce managementapplication 254 monitors status and other information returned fromworkforce management client and/or ticket approval application 256 ofcentral server 222. Workforce management client exposes this informationto the informed excavator application 258. As discussed above, certainstatus conditions may include, but are not limited to, “ticket received”by locate party 130, “ticket dispatched,” “locate operation inprogress,” “ticket marked,” “ticket approved,” “ticket closed,” and thelike.

Ticket approval application 256 of central server 222 may be used forcollecting data associated with locate operations that are performed inthe field and by which quality control functions may be performed. Inone example, one or more approvers (not shown) are associated withticket approval application 224. The approvers may be, for example, anypersonnel associated with the underground facility locate serviceprovider, such as, but not limited to, the supervisors of locatetechnicians that are dispatched into the field, quality controlsupervisors, and/or any management personnel.

Ticket approval application 256 may use the information found in the ofEM images 248 of marked or completed tickets 250 that are returned fromonsite computers 220/locate personnel devices 218 in order to rapidlyassess the quality of the work performed in the field. This assessmentmay be by visual inspection of each marked ticket by one or moreapprovers and/or by analyzing the information of each marked ticketagainst one or more facilities maps (not shown) that correspond to thegeographic location associated with marked ticket. Ticket approvalapplication 256 may be a source of locate operation status informationthat may be monitored by informed excavator application 258.

FIG. 5 illustrates various elements of an informed excavator application258 for providing information regarding the status of locate operations,according to one aspect of the present invention. According to variousaspects, for each locate request received at central server 222,informed excavator application 258 reads in information from excavatorprofiles 512 in order to determine the preferred types and methods ofnotification entered by the originating excavator 114. During locateoperations, informed excavator application 258 monitors status and otherinformation about locate operations that may be provided by workforcemanagement application 254 and/or ticket approval application 256 viaticket monitoring component 514. In so doing, informed excavatorapplication 258 automatically generates notifications, via notificationcomponent 516, according to information in the excavator profiles 512that are associated with the originating excavators 114.

Referring to FIG. 6A, a flow diagram of an example of a method 600 ofoperation of informed excavator system 200, and more particularly theinformed excavator application 256, is presented. Method 600 mayinclude, but is not limited to, the following steps, which are notlimited to any order.

At step 610, excavators 114 access informed excavator application 256and enter profile information. More specifically, excavators 114 may loginto the informed excavator application 256 and enter profileinformation, such as information about their identity and the preferredtypes of notifications (e.g., Locate technician dispatched to dig area,Locate technician on site at dig area, Ticket marked, Ticket approved,Locate details) and preferred methods of notifications (e.g., email, SMStext message, phone call, pager message).

FIG. 6B illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface (GUI) 1000that may be used in connection with providing inputs to the informedexcavator application 258 shown in FIG. 5, and in particular theexcavator profiles 512, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. The GUI 1000 may comprise, for example, a liquid crystaldisplay or other display screen to display information, and may have atouch-sensitive screen and/or be associated with one or more other userinput devices to receive user inputs. In the exemplary interface shownin FIG. 6B, a checklist of notification types 1002 and a checklist ofnotification communication methods 1004 are displayed. To establish auser profile, a user may check one or more desired notification types1002 and one or more desired notification communication methods 1004 inthe displayed checklists. The selected notification type(s) and/ornotification communication method(s) may be saved as a user profile,which may include default preferences for the user.

At the bottom of the screen, the user is prompted to indicate, via checkbox and prompt 1006, whether the user would like to submit a locaterequest and/or generate a VWL image. If the user indicates such interestby selecting the check box, the GUI 1000 will display an interface suchas the VWL application interface shown in FIG. 3 so that the user maygenerate a VWL image and/or submit a locate request as discussed inconnection with that application. The locate request may include a VWLimage and/or a data set relating to a VWL image, although suchinformation may not be necessary. The foregoing is discussed in greaterdetail below in connection with FIG. 8.

In the example described above, the user who establishes a user profileusing the GUI 1000 of FIG. 6B may be an excavator or other partyassociated with providing a locate request. However, a user profile maybe established by other parties, such as a facility owner, a locateparty, a party informed by regulatory requirements, contractrequirements, or other requirements for such notifications, and/or somecombination of the foregoing. In this way, a facility owner, locateparty, and/or regulatory body may dictate the positive responsenotifications received by a party associated with providing a locaterequest (e.g., an excavator) and/or how such positive notifications arereceived by the party. For example, a particular facility owner mayspecify preferred notification type(s) and notification communicationmethod(s) for all locate and/or marking operations that involve theirfacility, per agreement with a locate party. Further, a user profile maybe established without using the GUI described in connection with FIG.6B. For example, the excavator information application may receiveinputs from a file that includes information (e.g., contract and/orregulatory requirements) that may be used to generate the user profile.

Returning now to FIG. 6A, at step 612, the current status of locaterequests is monitored. For example, status and/or other information isreturned from onsite computers/locate personnel devices to workforcemanagement application 254 and/or ticket approval application 256 ofcentral server 222. Informed excavator application 258 queries workforcemanagement application 254 and/or ticket approval application 256 forthe status and/or other information. Certain status conditions mayinclude, but are not limited to, ticket received, ticket dispatched,locate operation in progress, ticket marked, ticket approved, ticketclosed, and the like.

At step 614, notification component 516 of informed excavatorapplication 258 generates notifications to excavators 114 based on thecurrent status of locate requests and then transits the notificationsbased on the types and methods of notifications that are selected in therespective excavator profiles 512 of excavators 114.

In one example, when the types of notifications selected in the profileinformation is “All types of notifications,” the preferred method ofnotification is “SMS text message,” and the current status is “ticketdispatched,” a “Locate technician dispatched to dig area” notificationmay be automatically transmitted to the excavator 114. For example, atext message may be generated and transmitted to the cell phone of theexcavator 114 as follows—“For Ticket No. 2645134, locate technician hasbeen dispatched to dig area on Friday, Dec. 5, 2008 at 9:30 AM.”Continuing the example, when the current status changes to “ticketmarked,” a “Ticket marked” notification may be automatically transmittedto the excavator 114. For example, a text message may be generated andtransmitted to the cell phone of the excavator 114 as follows—“TicketNo. 2645134 is marked on Friday, Dec. 5, 2008 at 11:46 AM.”

In another example, when the types of notifications selected in theprofile information is “Ticket closed” only and the preferred method ofnotification is a phone call, only when the current status is “ticketclosed” will the excavator 114 receive a phone call notification. Forexample, when the current status is “ticket closed,” the excavator 114may receive a phone call directly from the locate technician whoperformed the locate operation to inform the excavator 114 that theticket of interest has been closed on a certain date and time.Alternatively, the excavator 114 may receive a phone call from a certainlocate party 130 and/or one-call center 120 in order to inform theexcavator 114 that the ticket of interest has been closed. The phonecall may be a manually generated phone call from personnel of a certainlocate party 130 and/or one-call center 120. Alternatively, the phonecall is automatically initiated via an IVR system.

At step 616, notification component 516 of informed excavatorapplication 258 transmits detailed information about locate operationsto the excavators. More specifically, when “Locate information” isselected in the excavator profile, detailed information about the locateoperation of a certain ticket may be transmitted by notificationapplication 226 to the excavator 114 who originated the locate request.For example, the excavator 114 may receive the following informationabout a certain locate operation: (1) the original VWL image and/orseries of VWL images; (2) an electronic copy of the completed ticket,which may include a status code indicating whether or not the locateoperation was completed; (3) the corresponding EM image 248 that wasgenerated by locate personnel 134 via EM application 246 and that showsvarious details of the locate operation; (4) the correspondingelectronic representation of the locate operation, which may include,e.g., the locate technician's name, the locate equipment used, thediagnosis software used on the locate equipment, the locate technician'shistory at the site, and a description of the conditions in and/oraround the dig area (e.g., whether there is a fence and the number ofhouses or other structures present); (5) an assessment of the risk ofexcavation in the dig area (e.g., a descriptive or numeric risk assignedbased on such factors as whether there is a buried line, a high pressuregas line, or other high risk condition within or near the dig area); and(6) any combinations thereof.

Referring to FIG. 7, a flow diagram of an example of a method 700 ofusing informed excavator system 200 is presented. Method 700 mayinclude, but is not limited to, the following steps, which are notlimited to any order.

At step 710, a locate request that includes a VWL image and/or a projectticket that includes a series of VWL images of the proposed dig area issubmitted to a one-call center. More specifically, a certain excavator114 may use VWL application to generate a VWL image and/or series of VWLimages and then submit a locate request and/or project ticket,respectively, to a certain one-call center 120.

At step 712, the locate request that includes a VWL image and/or aproject ticket that includes a series of VWL images is passed from acertain one-call center 120 to a certain locate party 130. Morespecifically, the locate request that is generated in step 710 istransmitted from the one-call center 120 to central server 212 of acertain locate party 130 that is to perform the locate operation.

In various exemplary implementations, a locate request ticket providedto a locate party 130 may include one or both of image data andnon-image data associated with the dig area. As discussed above, theimage data may include at least one marked-up image of a geographic areaincluding the dig area, wherein the marked-up image(s) includes at leastone dig area indicator (e.g., virtual white lines) to provide anindication of the dig area. Again, the dig area indicator(s) (e.g.,virtual white lines) typically are placed on the image (e.g., by theexcavator or one-call center) before the ticket is received by thelocate party. In some implementations, the dig indicator(s)/virtualwhite lines may be added to the image at a first user location remotefrom the dig area and/or without acquiring geographic coordinates forthe dig area indicator(s). Examples of non-image data that may beincluded in or otherwise associated with the locate request ticket mayinclude, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: a textdescription of the dig area; a plurality of geographic coordinatesassociated with the at least one dig area indicator; an address or a lotnumber of at least one property within which the dig area is located; astreet intersection in a vicinity of the dig area; a date and/or time ofday for an excavation of the dig area; a first identifier associatedwith an excavator to perform the excavation activities; a secondidentifier associated with at least one environmental landmark in thevicinity of the dig area; and a ticket identifier for the locate requestticket. Any of the image data or non-image data associated with thelocate request ticket may be provided to one or more parties inconnection with one or more notifications regarding the status of locateoperations, as discussed in greater detail below.

At step 714, workforce management application 254 assigns the locaterequest that is generated in step 712 to a certain locate personnel 134,such as a locate technician, and the locate technician is dispatched todig area.

At step 716, the originating excavator 114 may be notified by informedexcavator application 258, which is monitoring the status of the locaterequest, that the locate technician is in route to the dig area. Forexample, notification component 516 may generate a “Locate techniciandispatched to dig area” notification, which may be received by theexcavator 114 by the notification method selected in his/her excavatorprofile. Receiving this notification allows the excavator 114 theopportunity to proceed to the dig area in the event that he/she wishesto discuss any details of the planned excavation with locate personnel134, in order to avoid any misunderstanding and/or miscommunicationsabout the locate operation and, thereby, reduce the risk of damage tounderground facilities during excavation.

At step 718, the locate technician that was dispatched in step 714arrives at dig area.

At step 720, the originating excavator 114 may be notified by informedexcavator application 258, which is monitoring the status of the locaterequest, that the locate technician has arrived at the dig area. Forexample, notification component 516 may generate a “Locate technician onsite at dig area” notification, which may be received by the excavator114 by the notification method selected in his/her excavator profile.Again, receiving this notification allows the excavator 114 theopportunity to proceed to the dig area in the event that the excavator114 wishes to discuss any details of the planned excavation with thelocate personnel.

At step 722, the locate technician performs the locate operation at thedig area according to the instructions of the locate request to whichhe/she has been assigned. As noted earlier, it should be appreciatedthat during a given locate operation, underground facilities may or maynot be found at the dig area, but that given either a presence orabsence of facilities, the performance of the locate operation,including an inspection of the dig area, may be verified as completed bythe locate technician.

In particular, at step 724, the locate technician completes the locateoperation and the ticket status is updated accordingly. For example, a“ticket marked” status may be communicated by workforce managementclient of onsite computer/locate personnel device to workforcemanagement application 254.

At step 726, the excavator 114 may be notified by informed excavatorapplication 258, which is monitoring the status of the locate request,that the ticket is marked, which means that the locate operation hasbeen completed by the locate technician, but may be pending approval.More specifically, notification component 516 may generate a “Ticketmarked (but pending approval)” notification. This notification may bereceived by the excavator 114 by the notification method selected inhis/her excavator profile.

At decision step 728, it is determined whether the ticket of the currentlocate operation is to be subjected to a quality control process. Ifyes, method 700 may proceed to step 730. If no, method 700 may proceedto step 732.

At step 730, the ticket of the current locate operation is processed byticket approval application 256. If the ticket passes the qualitycontrol process satisfactorily, method 700 may proceed directly to step732 with no further action. If the ticket does not pass the qualitycontrol process satisfactorily, quality control action is taken untilthe ticket passes the quality control process satisfactorily, method 700may then proceed to step 732.

At step 732, the ticket of the current locate operation is classified asticket approved. In this way, the quality of the locate operation iscertified.

At step 734, the originating excavator 114 may be notified by informedexcavator application 258, which is monitoring the status of the locaterequest, that the ticket is approved. For example, notificationcomponent 516 may generate a “Ticket approved” notification, which maybe received by the excavator 114 by the notification method selected inhis/her excavator profile. Receiving this notification allows theexcavator 114 the opportunity to proceed to the dig area to perform theplanned excavation with little or no delay from the date and time atwhich the locate operation was completed.

At step 736, the originating excavator 114 may receive the original VWLimage plus other information about the locate operation. Morespecifically, when “Locate information” is selected in the excavatorprofile, detailed information about the locate operation of a certainticket (e.g., one or both of image data and non-image data, someexamples of which were discussed above) may be transmitted by informedexcavator application 258 to the originating excavator 114. For example,the excavator 114 may receive (1) the original VWL image and/or seriesof VWL images; (2) an electronic copy of the completed ticket (includingimage and/or non-image data); (3) the corresponding EM image that wasgenerated via EM application 246 and that shows details of the locateoperation (including “clears” in which an image is not necessarilymarked-up with locate mark indicators, but other important non-imagedata is associated with the EM image), including an EM image that mayalso show the original virtual white lines; (4) the correspondingelectronic representation of the locate operation (e.g., non-image dataor information without a marked-up image component); (5) an assessmentof the risk of excavation in the dig area (e.g., a descriptive ornumeric risk assigned based on such factors as whether there is a buriedline, a high pressure gas line, or other high risk condition within ornear the dig area); and (6) any combinations thereof.

At step 738, having detailed knowledge of the locate operation from theinformation provided in step 736, the excavator 114 may perform theplanned excavation of the dig area with increased confidence, which hasthe result of reducing the risk of damage to underground facilitiesduring excavation.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 through 7, informed excavator system 200 andthe associated methods 600 and 700 of the present disclosure are notlimited to providing status notifications and/or information aboutlocate operations to personnel (e.g., excavators 114) of excavationcompanies only. Status notifications and/or information about locateoperations may be provided to any entity associated with locateoperations, such as, but not limited to, those included in informedexcavator system 200.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the functionality of the informed excavatorapplication 258 may be combined with the functionality of VWLapplication 232 or 234 so that a single interface can be used not onlyto manage the communication of status notifications and/or informationabout locate operations, but also to submit one or more VWL imagesand/or locate requests, as described herein. More particularly, anexcavator may use a single interface to manage the communication ofstatus notifications and/or information about locate operations andsubmit VWL images and/or locate requests, and efficiently perform thesetasks during a single login session or the like.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary method 800 of using an excavator informationapplication that combines the functionality of the informed excavatorapplication 258 and VWL application 232 or 234. The excavatorinformation application may be stored on central server 222 as discussedin connection with the informed excavator application 258, on excavatordevices 212 as discussed in connection with VWL application 232, on acomputing system associated with one-call center 120 as discussed inconnection with VWL application 234, or some other suitable location(s).Method 800 may include, but is not limited to, the following steps,which need not be performed in the order shown.

At step 810, an excavator accesses the excavator information applicationand enters profile information. This step is analogous to step 610 ofFIG. 6A and may involve the same actions described in connectiontherewith. An exemplary GUI for facilitating entry of relevantinformation also was discussed above in connection with FIG. 6B.

At step 812, the excavator enters locate information and/or generates aVWL image. The excavator information application may include thefunctionality of VWL application 232 or 234, such that the locateinformation may be entered and the VWL image may be generated in themanner described in connection with those applications. For example, aVWL image 238 may be created using the VWL application 232 shown in FIG.3. Locate information, such as information specifying a dig area, may beinput by an excavator using a marking tool such as the dig area markingtool of VWL application 232, a form with data fields, or another meansof data input. The locate information and/or VWL image may be submittedto a one-call center as part of a locate request. For example, theexcavator may submit a locate request without a VWL image. If a VWLimage is required, the one-call center may use the information in thelocate request submitted by the excavator to generate a VWL image.Alternatively, the excavator may submit the locate information and/orVWL image to a one-call center pursuant to an already submitted locaterequest, or in advance of a locate request not yet submitted.

Steps 814, 816 and 818 may proceed as discussed in connection withanalogous steps 612, 614 and 616 of FIG. 6A. In particular, theexcavator information application may monitor the status of a locateoperation, generate and provides notification(s) to an excavator basedon the status of the locate operation and profile information entered instep 810, and optionally provide detailed information about the locateoperation to the excavator in the same manner as the informed excavatorapplication 258 discussed herein.

“Enhanced” Positive Response Notifications

In yet other embodiments, according to the methods, apparatus andsystems described herein an enhanced positive response notification(also referred to as an “enhanced positive response” or a “locatereport”) may be generated to inform one or more parties of locate and/ormarking operation status. In exemplary implementations, an enhancedpositive response may be an electronic communication, alert or documentthat may include (or have a link/pointer to) textual information and/orgraphical information, including image information, relating toperformance of a locate and/or marking operation.

In one example, an enhanced positive response may include one or both oftime-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locateand/or marking operation was completed by a locate technician, andplace-stamp information to provide proof of a presence of the locatetechnician sufficiently proximate to or at a geographic locationspecified on the locate request ticket (and corresponding to the digarea). In another example, the enhanced positive response may include anelectronic manifest (EM) image that itself includes such a time-stampand/or place-stamp to provide comprehensive feedback regardingperformance of the locate and/or marking operation. Examples of otherinformation that may be included in such an enhanced positive response(and in some cases as part of an EM image) include, but are not limitedto, a signature and/or a user identification that identifies the locatetechnician, one or more member codes for facility owners who may havefacilities in or proximate to the dig area, one or more positiveresponse codes representing a status of the locate and/or markingoperation, and various textual information.

In another embodiment, an enhanced positive response may include avirtual white line (VWL) image, in addition to the EM image, thatincludes one or more dig area indicators to indicate the dig area on animage; alternatively, the EM image itself may include one or more suchdig area indicators. As discussed above, one or both of an EM image anda VWL image constituting an enhanced positive response may includegeo-referenced information (e.g., GPS coordinates) in connection withdig area indicators, environmental landmarks present in and around thework site/dig area, and/or the locate and/or marking operation performedby the technician.

In another embodiment relating to an enhanced positive response, variousenvironmental information may be provided in such a response regardingone or more environmental conditions present at or near the digarea/work site during a locate and/or marking operation. Examples ofenvironmental conditions about which environmental information may beprovided include, but are not limited to, an ambient temperature, andambient humidity, and an ambient light level. Various environmentalsensors may be employed, alone or together with exemplary locate and/ormarking devices discussed herein, to acquire such environmentalinformation. Digital photographs and/or digital audio files also may beacquired at or near the dig area/work site and included in an enhancedpositive response to provide additional information.

In yet another embodiment relating to an enhanced positive response,according to the methods, apparatus and systems described herein anenhanced positive response may be generated in which an electronicmanifest (EM) image and a virtual white line (VWL) image associated withthe locate and/or marking operation are bundled together based onrespective descriptor files (or descriptor metadata) for the EM imageand the VWL image. In one aspect, the descriptor files or descriptormetadata associate the corresponding images with one or more particulartickets in response to which the locate and/or marking operation isperformed, so as to link the images and relevant information in thelocate request ticket. In this manner, a comprehensive enhanced positiveresponse may be generated so as to inform one or more parties of acompleted status of the locate and/or marking operation. As noted above,in addition to the EM image and the VWL image, a variety of otherinformation also may be included in an enhanced positive responseresulting from bundling of images based on descriptor files/descriptormetadata.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary positive responseapplication 1100 for generating one or more enhanced positive responses1110, according to one embodiment of the present invention. In variousaspects, the positive response application 1100 may be implemented byone or more processing units executing processor-executableinstructions, and may share one or more features similar to thosedescribed above in connection with the informed excavator application258 for providing positive response notifications to various parties.With reference again to FIG. 2, it should be appreciated that thepositive response application 1100 shown in FIG. 9 and described ingreater detail below, and/or other applications implementing similarfunctionality, may reside in memory and/or execute on one or moreprocessing units at one or more of a one-call center 120, a centralserver 222, an onsite computer 220, an excavator device 212 or a locatepersonnel device 218. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that in someexemplary implementations, at least some or all of the functionalityprovided by the positive response application 1100 may be realized in adistributed fashion, e.g., one portion of the positive responseapplication may reside and/or execute at the one-call center 120,another portion may reside and/or execute at the central server 222,another portion may reside and/or execute at the onsite computer 220,etc.

As shown in FIG. 9, member codes 1112 and positive response codes 1114may provide sources of information to the positive response application1100 and may constitute some of the content in an enhanced positiveresponse 1110 generated by the application 1100. Member codes 1112 maybe unique identification codes that are assigned to facility owners by acertain controlling entity with respect to underground facility locateoperations (Sunshine State One Call of Florida, Inc.—SSOCOF—is oneexample of a such a controlling entity). By way of example, a sample ofmember codes 112 of the SSOCOF is shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Example member codes 1112 of, for example, the SSOCOF MemberCode Facility Owner ATT AT&T FPL Florida Power & Light COM Comcast ADELAdelphia TWC Time Warner Cable VZ Verizon PGS TECO Peoples Gas

Positive response codes 1114 may be unique codes that have particularmeaning with respect to locate and/or marking operations. The uniquepositive response codes may be determined by a certain controllingentity with respect to underground facility locate operations (again,SSOCOF is one example of a such a controlling entity). By way ofexample, a sample of positive response codes 1114 of the SSOCOF andtheir meanings are shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Example positive response codes 1114 of, for example, the SSOCOFPositive Response Code Positive Response Code Meaning 1 Marked A locatetechnician has been to your excavation site and marked the approximatehorizontal location of underground facilities within the boundariesdescribed on the ticket. 2A Marked with High profile utility inconflict. An underground Exceptions facility that delivers services to alarge number of people or that could cause major problems if hit iswithin your excavation site (i.e., fiber optic line, gas line, etc.).While the locate technician has marked the approximate horizontallocation of the facility, the utility or its locate technician want tobe present during any excavation near that facility. 2B Marked with Autility or its locate technician has located and Exceptions marked itsunderground facility, but other facilities of that same type are in thearea and were not marked because the utility claims no responsibilityfor locating them. 3A Unmarked Locate technician could not gain accessto property; call utility to schedule access. 3B Unmarked Excavationsite is unmarked because the address could not be found. 3C UnmarkedExcavation site is unmarked. The locate technician and excavatornegotiated an alternate time to meet at the excavation site. 3D UnmarkedExcavation site is unmarked. An underground facility that deliversservices to a large number of people or that could cause major problemsif hit is located near your excavation site (i.e., fiber optic, gas orelectric line, etc.). The utility or locate technician want to bepresent during any excavation near that facility and will mark asnecessary. 3F Unmarked Excavation site is unmarked. The locatetechnician cannot mark within two full business days. The excavator wascontacted and a new deadline was scheduled. 3H Unmarked A locatetechnician went to the excavation site and found none of the facilityowner's lines there; however, there are lines of a similar facilitylocated in that area which are considered privately owned. 3M UnmarkedExcavation site is unmarked. The marking instructions on the locateticket are not clear. The description may not make sense or thedescription may not match what the locate technician sees at theexcavation site. Contact the utility to provide clarification. 3NUnmarked Excavation site is unmarked. Based on the written descriptionon the ticket, the locate technician could not determine the exact areathat needed locating. 3P Unmarked Excavation site is unmarked. A utilitydoes not have accurate information about the location of thoseunderground facilities. The utility is required, however, to give theexcavator the best available information. 3R Unmarked Excavation site isunmarked. A locate technician went to the excavation site, but theexcavation work had already been completed. 3T Unmarked Excavation siteis unmarked. The utility has declared extraordinary circumstancesthrough SSOCOF that render them unable to respond to your locaterequest. Extraordinary circumstances indicate situations other thannormal operating conditions such as a natural or manmade disaster. 3UUnmarked Excavation site is unmarked. Another company provides theservices at this location. 3W Unmarked Work is being performed by theutility and the excavator will mark the underground lines per agreement.4 Clear The utility has no underground facilities at the specifiedexcavation site. 5 No conflict The utility has a facility near theexcavation site, but it is not within the area that was either describedon the ticket or white lined. 6a Active The member has active facilitieswithin the area facilities are described by the noticed demolition. Donot present demolish until the member notifies you the site is clear. 8Ongoing job The locate technician and excavator have established anagreement on scheduled marking.

As also shown in FIG. 9, locate request tickets 236 also may be an inputto positive response application 1100 and provide another source ofinformation which may be used at least in part to generate enhancedpositive responses 1110. As discussed above, tickets 236 may includetextual ticket information (e.g., a ticket and/or work order number,ticket submission date, requested completion date, geographic locationinformation or address information, excavation information, excavatorinformation, site information, locate operations instructionsinformation, caller information, remarks information, task information),any portion or all of which may be included in an enhanced positiveresponse 1110.

An EM application 246 may provide yet another input to positive responseapplication 1100 as shown in FIG. 9. For example, the EM application 246generates one or more electronic manifest (EM) images 248 that maythemselves be included as part of the contents of an enhanced positiveresponse 1110. As discussed above in connection with FIG. 4, EMapplication 246 is a computer software application that, when executed,provides an electronic drawing tool that may be used by locatetechnicians for electronically marking up, for example, a digital aerialimage of the dig area for indicating locate marks that have beendispensed at the site, thereby indicating the geo-locations and types offacilities present. The marked-up digital images may be saved as, forexample, EM images 248, which may be associated with tickets 236 and maybe used by locate companies to support proof of work compliance.

FIG. 10 provides an example of an EM image 248 that may be generated byan EM application 246 and employed, all or in part, in an enhancedpositive response 1110 according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. As illustrated in FIG. 10, an aerial image of a work site/digarea of interest may provide a basis upon which markings 1134 are madeto indicate the geographic locations of one or more undergroundfacilities detected and/or marked during a locate and/or markingoperation. The EM image 248 also may include various textual informationrelating to ticket details, marking status, and the technicianperforming the locate and/or marking information. For example, FIG. 10shows that the EM image 248 may include a time-stamp 1138 indicating thedate and time that an operation was completed (and/or the EM imagecreated), a place-stamp 1136 indicating geographic coordinatescorresponding to where the operation was completed (and/or the EM imagewas created), a technician ID 1140, and a technician signature 1142.Again, any or all information contained in the EM image 248 shown inFIG. 10 may be included in an enhanced positive response 1110, includingsome or all of the textual information without the image portion of theinformation (or vice versa).

With respect to the place-stamp 1136 shown in FIG. 10, in one aspect asnoted above the place-stamp provides proof of a presence of the locatetechnician sufficiently proximate to, or at, a geographic locationspecified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the worksite/dig area. Accordingly, the place-stamp helps to mitigate potentialdamage to an underground facility that could occur in instances in whichthe locate technician did not go to the work site/dig area indicated onthe ticket and did not perform a locate and/or marking operation at thatsite (e.g., because the locate technician unintentionally performed thelocate operation at the wrong address or location; because the locatetechnician chose not to perform the locate operation believing thatthere are no underground facilities at the site, perhaps based on pastexperiences at the site; etc.).

In view of the foregoing, in some embodiments the EM application 246employed to generate the EM image 248 shown in FIG. 10 may be configuredto analyze and compare various geographic information so as to providethe place-stamp 1136 with sufficient accuracy. Examples of geographicinformation that may be analyzed by the EM application to facilitategeneration of the place-stamp 1136 includes, but is not limited to,geographic location data (e.g. GPS coordinates) corresponding to: 1)address information or other location information, if available, aboutthe work site/dig area derived from or specified on a locate requestticket; 2) a locate technician's whereabouts, based on use of locatedevice 214 and/or marking device 216, a locate personnel device 218,onsite computer 220, or other tracking device on the person of thelocate technician; and/or 3) one or more points on a digital imageserving as a basis for the EM image 248 (e.g., a centroid of the digitalimage). In exemplary implementations, the place-stamp 1136 generallycorresponds to the locate technician's whereabouts when actuallyperforming the locate and/or marking operation, or when using the EMapplication to enter in various information to facilitate generation ofthe EM image 248.

To ensure that the place-stamp 1136 provides reasonable proof that thelocate technician was sufficiently proximate to or at the work site/digarea, in one embodiment the EM application 246 may determine whether twoor more of the geographic locations indicated above (i.e., work site/digarea specified on ticket, technician whereabouts, and image coordinates)are within some predetermined distance (i.e., a “threshold distance”) ofeach other. A variety of values for the threshold distance may be usedas a metric for sufficient proximity to the work site/dig area; in somecases these metrics may be based at least in part on recommended bestpractices for a particular jurisdiction, operating procedures for agiven locate company/contractor, and/or contractual obligations imposedby one or more facility owners and/or one-call centers. In one exemplaryimplementation, the threshold distance for sufficient proximity may beon the order of tens of feet, while in other implementations thethreshold distance may be greater depending on various circumstances(e.g., hundreds or thousands of feet).

Additional details relating to the place-stamp 1136 and a qualityassessment analysis regarding same are discussed in U.S. applicationpublication US2009-0327024-A1, entitled “Methods and Apparatus forQuality Assessment of a Field Service Operation,” published Dec. 31,2009, which publication is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

With reference again to FIG. 9, a VWL application 232, as discussedabove in connection with FIG. 3, may provide yet another input topositive response application 1100 in the form of one or more VWL images238 that may be included as part of the contents of enhanced positiveresponses 1110. Similarly, locate data 1152 may provide another input topositive response application 1100. Locate data 1152 may include variousinformation provided by marking devices 216 or locate devices 214, andalso may include data from, but not limited to, one or more of thefollowing sources: environmental sensors that are onsite of the locateoperation, which may provide information about the environmentalconditions; digital photographs that are taken onsite; and digital audiofiles that are recorded onsite. With respect to environmentalinformation regarding one or more environmental conditions, advancedknowledge of environmental conditions at a work site may play a role inthe excavator's planning process. For example, if the excavator is awarethat the work site/dig area was marked while it was raining, theexcavator may make special effort to perform the excavation before themarkings wash away. Additionally, digital photographs and/or digitalaudio files that capture information about the work site may be usefulto locate companies with respect to providing proof of presence andproof of the work performed.

In FIG. 9, an assembly component 1116 of positive response application1100 is a software component configured to facilitate collecting andassembling information including or derived from member codes 1112,positive response codes 1114, tickets 236, EM images 248 and/or VWLimages 238 into enhanced positive responses 1110. In one example,assembly component 116 queries and/or processes descriptor files and/ordescriptor metadata, respectively associated with EM images 248 and VWLimages 238, which descriptor files/metadata reference the correspondingimages to a particular locate request ticket 236. By querying/processingthe descriptor files/metadata, assembly component 1116 can effectivelyassemble an appropriate EM image 248 and VWL image 238 corresponding tothe locate request ticket and resulting locate and/or marking operationin question. In some instances, the assembly component 1116 furthercombines image files with other information such as corresponding membercodes 1112, positive response codes 1114, and/or information from ticket236. Assembly component 1116 then bundles all image files andinformation in order to generate enhanced positive responses 1110.

FIG. 11A is a front view of an example of an enhanced positive response1110 according to one embodiment of the present invention. In thisexample, enhanced positive response 1110 may include textual information1118, which in turn may include any information contained in or derivedfrom ticket 236 (e.g., the ticket number, date information, geographiclocation information or address information, excavation information,excavator information, site information, locate operations instructionsinformation, caller information, remarks information, task information,etc.). Further, textual information 1118 may includes a status code1120, which may be standard status code information that is formed bythe combination of member codes 1112 and positive response codes 1114for each facility type.

In one example and referring to Tables 1 and 2, status code 1120 is“VZ-1 Marked; TWC-5 No conflict; FPL-4 Clear.” In this example, “VZ-1Marked” means that with respect to facilities owned by Verizon—a locatetechnician has been to your excavation site and marked the approximatehorizontal location of underground facilities within the boundariesdescribed on the ticket. “TWC-5 No conflict” means that with respect tofacilities owned by Time Warner Cable—the utility has a facility nearthe excavation site, but it is not within the area that was eitherdescribed on the ticket or white lined. “FPL-4 Clear” means that withrespect to facilities owned by Florida Power & Light—the utility has nounderground facilities at the specified excavation site.

The enhanced positive response 1110 shown in FIG. 11A also includes anEM image 248 and a VWL image 238. In one example, the EM image 248 andVWL image 238 are digital geo-referenced aerial images that correspondto the address information in textual information 1118 (e.g., 1333Gateway Dr, Melbourne, Fla. 32901). With respect to EM image 248, thedigital image has been marked up electronically using EM application 246to show markings 1134 of a certain color that indicate the location andtype of facilities present at the work site/dig area. Further, in oneexemplary implementation as discussed above in connection with FIG. 10,when creating the EM image 248 using EM application 246, EM application246 automatically superimposes a place-stamp 1136 and a time-stamp 1138upon the saved EM image 248. Place-stamp 1136 may include, for example,the latitude and longitude coordinates of the actual geographic locationat which the locate operation is performed (which may be acquired fromthe geo-referenced input image used as a basis for EM image 248). In oneexample, time-stamp 1138 may be the date and time that EM image 248 iscreated. In another example, time-stamp 1138 may be the date and timethat the certain enhanced positive response is saved. In yet anotherexample, time-stamp 1138 may be the date and time that the certainenhanced positive response is transmitted to an interested party. By useof place-stamp 1136 and time-stamp 1138, proof of presence at the worksite and proof of the time the work is performed is automaticallyprovided in enhanced positive response 1110.

With respect to the optional VWL image 238, the digital image has beenmarked up electronically using VWL application 232 to show a dig areaindicator 260 that indicates the extent of the dig area in which locateoperations are performed. Additionally, enhanced positive response 1110shown in FIG. 11A may include other information 1170, which may beinformation extracted from locate data 152. In one example, otherinformation 1170 may include the environmental conditions at the jobsite, such as the ambient temperature, ambient humidity, and/or ambientlighting conditions.

FIG. 11B provides another example of an enhanced positive response 1110according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this example,enhanced positive response 1110 includes EM image 248 only, with no VWLimage 238. However, in one aspect of this embodiment, the dig areaindicator 260, which is geo-encoded in the VWL image, is overlaid on themarkings 1134 of the EM image 248.

With reference again to FIG. 9, an additional feature of positiveresponse application 1100 according to one embodiment of the presentinvention relates to a “time-of-life” limitation, or expiration period,for EM images 248. As would be appreciated by those of skill in the art,in certain jurisdictions physical locate marks applied to the ground orsurface during a marking operation may be valid only for a limitedamount of time (e.g., two days, two weeks, etc.), after which the marksare considered to be expired—and if excavation does not occur withinthis designated periods, a re-marking request may be required.Accordingly, in one embodiment, a similar type of expiration period maybe ascribed to an EM image 248, i.e., the EM image 248 may be valid onlyfor a limited time period following the locate and/or marking operation(or the creation of the EM image). In one example, the EM image includesan expiration code, or “time-bomb code,” that allows viewing of the EMimage only for a predetermined time period (a “time-bomb code” refers toa computer program that is written so that it will stop functioningafter a predetermined date or time is reached). Alternatively, when pastthe time period, EM images may be viewable, but a disclaimer may bedisplayed with the EM images that the information depicted thereon isexpired/no longer valid.

In yet another aspect, as discussed in part above in connection withFIG. 7, an enhanced positive response 1110 may be generated andtransmitted before or after completion of a quality assurance process toassess the accuracy/completeness of a locate and/or marking operation.In instances in which an enhanced positive response is generated priorto a quality assurance process, an enhanced positive response 1110 mayinclude a flag, such as a “Work complete, but pending approval” flag.The latter may be useful in certain time-sensitive instances in which itmay be detrimental to delay an enhanced positive response 1110 until thequality assurance process is complete.

Enhanced positive responses 1110, such as those shown in FIGS. 11A and11B, may be saved in an electronic form that is easily transmitted usingstandard network computing systems. In one example, enhanced positiveresponses 1110 may be provided in the form of an electronic document(e.g., a Microsoft® Word document) that includes textual information1118, EM image 248, and, optionally, VWL image 238. In another example,enhanced positive response 1110 may be provided in the form of an email;for example, textual information 1118 may be provided in the body of theemail and EM image 248, and optionally VWL image 238, may be provided asattachments to the email. In yet another example, a website address maybe provided by email to an interested party, and the contents of theenhanced positive response may be available via the website address(e.g., by clicking on the link to the website as contained in theemail).

CONCLUSION

While various inventive embodiments have been described and illustratedherein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision avariety of other means and/or structures for performing the functionand/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantagesdescribed herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications isdeemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments describedherein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations describedherein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters,dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon thespecific application or applications for which the inventive teachingsis/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able toascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalentsto the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is,therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presentedby way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claimsand equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Inventiveembodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individualfeature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein.In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent,is included within the inventive scope of the present disclosure.

The above-described embodiments can be implemented in any of numerousways. For example, the embodiments may be implemented using hardware,software or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, thesoftware code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection ofprocessors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed amongmultiple computers.

Further, it should be appreciated that a computer may be embodied in anyof a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. Additionally, acomputer may be embedded in a device not generally regarded as acomputer but with suitable processing capabilities, including a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitable portable orfixed electronic device.

Also, a computer may have one or more input and output devices. Thesedevices can be used, among other things, to present a user interface.Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a user interfaceinclude printers or display screens for visual presentation of outputand speakers or other sound generating devices for audible presentationof output. Examples of input devices that can be used for a userinterface include keyboards, and pointing devices, such as mice, touchpads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receiveinput information through speech recognition or in other audible format.

Such computers may be interconnected by one or more networks in anysuitable form, including a local area network or a wide area network,such as an enterprise network, and intelligent network (IN) or theInternet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology and mayoperate according to any suitable protocol and may include wirelessnetworks, wired networks or fiber optic networks.

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative computing device, e.g., computer 900, thatmay be used at least in part to implement any one or more of theapplications described herein. In the example shown, the illustrativecomputer 900 is used to implement the positive response application 1100described in connection with FIG. 9; however, it should be appreciatedthat the computer 900 may be employed to implement any of theapplications discussed herein (e.g., the informed excavator application258, the excavator information application discussed in connection withFIG. 8, VWL application 232, EM application 246, workforce managementapplication 254, ticket approval application 256, etc.). The computer900 comprises a memory 910, one or more processing units 912, one ormore communication interfaces 914, one or more display units 916, andone or more user input devices 918. The memory 910 may comprise anycomputer-readable media, and may store computer instructions forimplementing the excavator information application 902. The processingunit(s) 912 may be used to execute the instructions. The communicationinterface(s) 914 may be coupled to a wired or wireless network, bus, orother communication means and may therefore allow the computer 900 totransmit communications to and/or receive communications from otherdevices. The display unit(s) 916 may be provided, for example, to allowa user to view various information in connection with execution of theinstructions. The user input device(s) 918 may be provided, for example,to allow the user to make manual adjustments, make selections, enterdata or various other information, and/or interact in any of a varietyof manners with the processor during execution of the instructions.

The various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded assoftware that is executable on one or more processors that employ anyone of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, suchsoftware may be written using any of a number of suitable programminglanguages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may becompiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code thatis executed on a framework or virtual machine.

In this respect, various inventive concepts may be embodied as acomputer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable storagemedia) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compactdiscs, optical discs, magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuitconfigurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductordevices, or other non-transitory medium or tangible computer storagemedium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one ormore computers or other processors, perform methods that implement thevarious embodiments of the invention discussed above. The computerreadable medium or media can be transportable, such that the program orprograms stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more differentcomputers or other processors to implement various aspects of thepresent invention as discussed above.

The terms “program” or “software” are used herein in a generic sense torefer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executableinstructions that can be employed to program a computer or otherprocessor to implement various aspects of embodiments as discussedabove. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to oneaspect, one or more computer programs that when executed perform methodsof the present invention need not reside on a single computer orprocessor, but may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a numberof different computers or processors to implement various aspects of thepresent invention.

Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modulesmay be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in anysuitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may beshown to have fields that are related through location in the datastructure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigningstorage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium thatconvey relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanismmay be used to establish a relationship between information in fields ofa data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or othermechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods,of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of themethod may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments maybe constructed in which acts are performed in an order different thanillustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, eventhough shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood tocontrol over dictionary definitions, definitions in documentsincorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the definedterms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when usedin conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer,in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other thanB); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionallyincluding other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated tothe contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when usedin the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactlyone element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or”as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusivealternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded byterms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or“exactly one of” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims,shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including morethan one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements otherthan B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally includingmore than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including morethan one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitionalphrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are tobe understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limitedto. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases,respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual ofPatent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for providing information regardinga locate and/or marking operation, the apparatus comprising: acommunication interface; a memory to store processor-executableinstructions; and a processing unit communicatively coupled to thecommunication interface and the memory, wherein upon execution of theprocessor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processingunit: controls the communication interface to receive input indicatingthat a locate and/or marking operation is complete, the locate and/ormarking operation comprising detecting and/or marking by a locatetechnician, in response to at least one locate request ticket, apresence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a digarea, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to beexcavated or disturbed during excavation activities; and based on theinput indicating that the locate and/or marking operation is complete,further controls the communication interface and/or the memory toelectronically transmit and/or electronically store performanceinformation concerning the locate and/or marking operation, theperformance information including at least one of the following:time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locateand/or marking operation was completed by the locate technician at ageographic location specified on the locate request ticket andcorresponding to the dig area; and place-stamp information to provideproof of a presence of the locate technician sufficiently proximate toor at the geographic location specified on the locate request ticket andcorresponding to the dig area.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theperformance information includes both the time-stamp information and theplace-stamp information.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theperformance information further includes a signature and/or a useridentification identifying the locate technician.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the performance information further includes at leastone member code assigned to a facility owner.
 5. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the performance information further includes at least onepositive response code representing a status of the locate and/ormarking operation.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the performanceinformation further includes textual information, and wherein thetextual information includes at least one of: a ticket numberidentifying the locate request ticket; a scheduled time and/or date tobegin the locate and/or marking operation; a due date for the locateand/or marking operation; and a dispatch address for the locate and/ormarking operation.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the performanceinformation further includes environmental information regarding atleast one environmental condition present at or near the dig area duringthe locate and/or marking operation.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the environmental information includes at least one of anambient temperature, an ambient humidity, and an ambient light level. 9.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the performance information furtherincludes at least one digital photograph including the dig area.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the performance information furtherincludes at least one digital audio file recorded at the dig area. 11.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the performance information furtherincludes an electronic manifest (EM) image.
 12. The apparatus of claim11, wherein the EM image includes the time-stamp information and/or theplace-stamp information.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the EMimage includes at least one dig area indicator.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 13, wherein the performance information further includes: asignature and/or a user identification identifying the locatetechnician; at least one member code assigned to a facility owner; atleast one positive response code representing a status of the locateand/or marking operation; at least one environmental condition presentat or near the dig area during the locate and/or marking operation; andtextual information including at least one of: a ticket numberidentifying the locate request ticket; a scheduled time and/or date tobegin the locate and/or marking operation; a due date for the locateand/or marking operation; and a dispatch address for the locate and/ormarking operation.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein theperformance information further includes a virtual white line (VWL)image, and wherein the VWL image includes at least one dig areaindicator.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the performanceinformation further includes: a signature and/or a user identificationidentifying the locate technician; at least one member code assigned toa facility owner; at least one positive response code representing astatus of the locate and/or marking operation; at least oneenvironmental condition present at or near the dig area during thelocate and/or marking operation; and textual information including atleast one of: a ticket number identifying the locate request ticket; ascheduled time and/or date to begin the locate and/or marking operation;a due date for the locate and/or marking operation; and a dispatchaddress for the locate and/or marking operation.
 17. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the EM image includes an expiration code that allowsviewing of the EM image only for a predetermined time period.
 18. Acomputer-implemented method for providing information regarding a locateand/or marking operation, the method comprising: A) receiving inputindicating that a locate and/or marking operation is complete, thelocate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking by alocate technician, in response to at least one locate request ticket, apresence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a digarea, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to beexcavated or disturbed during excavation activities; and B) based on theinput indicating that the locate and/or marking operation is complete,electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing performanceinformation concerning the locate and/or marking operation, theperformance information including at least one of the following:time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locateand/or marking operation was completed by the locate technician at ageographic location specified on the locate request ticket andcorresponding to the dig area; and place-stamp information to provideproof of a presence of the locate technician sufficiently proximate toor at the geographic location specified on the locate request ticket andcorresponding to the dig area.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein theperformance information includes both the time-stamp information and theplace-stamp information.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein theperformance information further includes a signature and/or a useridentification identifying the locate technician.
 21. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the performance information further includes at leastone member code assigned to a facility owner.
 22. The method of claim18, wherein the performance information further includes at least onepositive response code representing a status of the locate and/ormarking operation.
 23. The method of claim 18, wherein the performanceinformation further includes textual information, and wherein thetextual information includes at least one of: a ticket numberidentifying the locate request ticket; a scheduled time and/or date tobegin the locate and/or marking operation; a due date for the locateand/or marking operation; and a dispatch address for the locate and/ormarking operation.
 24. The method of claim 18, wherein the performanceinformation further includes environmental information regarding atleast one environmental condition present at or near the dig area duringthe locate and/or marking operation.
 25. The method of claim 24, whereinthe environmental information includes at least one of an ambienttemperature, an ambient humidity, and an ambient light level.
 26. Themethod of claim 18, wherein the performance information further includesat least one digital photograph including the dig area.
 27. The methodof claim 18, wherein the performance information further includes atleast one digital audio file recorded at the dig area.
 28. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the performance information further includes anelectronic manifest (EM) image.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein theEM image includes the time-stamp information and/or the place-stampinformation.
 30. The method of claim 28, wherein the EM image includesat least one dig area indicator.
 31. The method of claim 30, wherein theperformance information further includes: a signature and/or a useridentification identifying the locate technician; at least one membercode assigned to a facility owner; at least one positive response coderepresenting a status of the locate and/or marking operation; at leastone environmental condition present at or near the dig area during thelocate and/or marking operation; and textual information including atleast one of: a ticket number identifying the locate request ticket; ascheduled time and/or date to begin the locate and/or marking operation;a due date for the locate and/or marking operation; and a dispatchaddress for the locate and/or marking operation.
 32. The method of claim28, wherein the EM image includes an expiration code that allows viewingof the EM image only for a predetermined time period.
 33. The method ofclaim 28, wherein the performance information further includes a virtualwhite line (VWL) image, and wherein the VWL image includes at least onedig area indicator.
 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the performanceinformation further includes: a signature and/or a user identificationidentifying the locate technician; at least one member code assigned toa facility owner; at least one positive response code representing astatus of the locate and/or marking operation; at least oneenvironmental condition present at or near the dig area during thelocate and/or marking operation; and textual information including atleast one of: a ticket number identifying the locate request ticket; ascheduled time and/or date to begin the locate and/or marking operation;a due date for the locate and/or marking operation; and a dispatchaddress for the locate and/or marking operation.
 35. At least onenon-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions that,when executed on at least one processing unit, perform a method forproviding information regarding a locate and/or marking operation, themethod comprising: A) receiving input indicating that a locate and/ormarking operation is complete, the locate and/or marking operationcomprising detecting and/or marking by a locate technician, in responseto at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of atleast one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least aportion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed duringexcavation activities; and B) based on the input indicating that thelocate and/or marking operation is complete, electronically transmittingand/or electronically storing performance information concerning thelocate and/or marking operation, the performance information includingat least one of the following: time-stamp information to provide proofof a time at which the locate and/or marking operation was completed bythe locate technician at a geographic location specified on the locaterequest ticket and corresponding to the dig area; and place-stampinformation to provide proof of a presence of the locate techniciansufficiently proximate to or at the geographic location specified on thelocate request ticket and corresponding to the dig area.